Destiny's Child
by Natasha Vloyski
Summary: Harry returns to the Dursleys following Sirius' death and innocently finds himself involved with a woman who will lead him back to No12 Grimmauld Place where he will discover THE mystery. All cannon characters.
1. Chapter 1

Destiny's Child

Ch 1 Gypsy Woman

Harry stood looking back at the small group on the train platform, then turned and followed the Dursleys. He'd never felt as lonely and disconsolate as he was feeling at the moment.

He felt trapped and unable to breath when he got into the car and Vernon pulled out of the parking spot. As they drove through the business district on their way out of London, unknown to him, he was leaving a trail of broken shop windows and turned-over trash bins.

It was all he could do to not open the car door and step out as they drove along. He had yet to resign himself to the fact that he was returning to No.4 Privet Drive and that he would have to stay there until Dumbledore found a way to remove him.

Harry leaned against the glass and stared out at the landscape and the houses spinning by in a daze. His mind was somewhere else and he felt empty. Vernon was saying something to him and talking to him in the rearview mirror. It was only when his Aunt turned to look at him with her sour face that he turned his attention to his Uncle.

Vernon was dictating the terms of his stay with them. So much had happened since leaving them to start the term he'd almost forgotten. Now, his Uncle was telling him that in spite of his friends threats, he would not have his family harassed or harmed in any way.

It was only then that Harry saw that they weren't taking their regular route to # 4 Privet Drive. In fact, they were pulling into a circular drive that ended up at the door of a rather large institutional building.

Harry had time to open the door to Hedwig's cage and roll down the window. He set her loose just as they pulled up. Two men were waiting when they arrived. The scrolled sign over the arched door read; St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys.

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Harry woke staring at a grungy blank wall, laying on a bed and feeling thirsty. His legs and arms seem to be bound. He struggled for a moment and realized that he'd been having a bad dream. He was at his aunt and uncle's house and was laying in bed in his own room tangled up in his own blankets and sheets.

He lay there for a moment thinking about how it was some relief to find that he wasn't locked in some institution for insane boys tied to his bed. He untangled one arm, put on his glasses and stared at Hedwig. It was late and she had not been out to hunt.

Harry disentangled himself and got up to open her cage. The house was silent except for the ticking of a clock at the foot of the stairs and his Uncle's snoring in the next room. Harry's window was already open to the early summer night air. Hedwig spread her immense wings and took to the sky, a speck of white against twilight of the evening. Harry watched her with fascination and wished he could join her, even felt tempted to turn around and dig out his Firebolt from his trunk. He knew that wouldn't- couldn't- happen.

The street was quiet and rain-washed from an early evening shower. He could smell the pungent odor of oily wet asphalt and grass. It was completely silent with only the glow of the street lamps. It drew him like a magnet.

Slipping on his jeans, a tee shirt and a pair of runners, he stuck his wand into his back pocket and opened up the door to his room. He knew just which steps to take to avoid making a sound and moved quickly out to the front garden.

It didn't matter which direction he turned, he'd taken every route away from Number Four Privet Drive a thousand times. He could have walked the streets blind-folded. He started off slowly and then broke into a run. Something inside was driving his steps; something that he knew was fighting to climb up his throat and gag him. He ran knowing that no amount of running was going to stop the feeling that was breaking over him like a wave. He ran through the street uninhibited until he could run no longer

Out of breath and bathed in sweat, he stopped and leaned over, his hands on his thighs grabbing a lungful of air. There was a stitch in his side and he grimaced and stretched and then started to walk it out. He was in a darker area; the light not as bright, the houses not as well-kept. Here and there a little shop poked it's head out with an odd residential home set back off the curb or some that leaned in and almost over-took the curb.

Harry wandered down the uneven, broken walk and glanced into darkened windows. He pressed his nose against the glass of a little, used furniture shop. There was a fabric shop next to it with a walk-up flat on the second floor. Down the street was an old school and a play yard. The fence had been torn down in places, victim to thousands of children standing on its' lower rungs or swinging on it. The street smelled old and abandoned as if it had set there untended for too many years.

Harry grew curious as he walked. There seemed to be a light on in a window of a house set off the road. It was a red light, the color of an old blood stain. The house was small and had a yard that stretched out before it. The yard was overgrown and weedy, but welcoming. Wild roses grew in abundance in unkempt patches along a cobbled pathway. He couldn't distinguish the color even as he stopped and leaned over the gate, but thought they were a deep color; perhaps a red.

He stopped and breathed in the fresh air. It was then that the sadness seemed to overwhelm him and he leaned against the fence, grasping the pickets, and found that he was sobbing into the dark night.

Between his sobs he began to hear music. Someone was playing a haunting song, each note hung quivering in the air, lingering as it was played. It called to him as he stood and listened. It seemed to slow the wrenching sobs and he slowed his breathing, feeling for the moment; calm.

Harry realized that he was staring at the little house and that as his eyes grew accustomed to what he was seeing, that there was a person sitting on a porch in a rocking chair, rocking. The music floated towards him and without thinking he reached down, opened the gate and walked along the path towards it.

A woman was sitting on the porch. He had a foot on the first of three before he saw her fully and then stopped, and was about to pull back. "

"I'm…I'm sorry," Harry gasped. "I heard your music." He turned and started back down the path.

The flute stopped. "And I heard your heart breaking," the voice said.

Harry stood with his back to the woman and closed his eyes. His nose took in the smell of the garden, the sweetness of the roses and the smell of old, decaying vegetation. It was earthy and he wanted to lay down in the grass and keep his eyes closed and lay there through the night. His shoulders slumped and he turned again, slowly.

"You are welcome to sit here with me," she said.

"It's very late," Harry said.

"It is night, that is all. Time doesn't matter," came the response.

Harry took the remaining steps and walked across the wooden porch that echoed with his steps. There was another chair across from her. It was so dark under the shelter of the porch that he couldn't see her face or tell her age or know what she looked like. He knew that she couldn't see him and it was enticing to know that she couldn't see the scar and ask about it.

He stopped before the chair. "I'll sit if you play."

"Very well," she said. Her arms came up and he heard her breath whistle through the reed.

He sat and began to rock. It felt soothing and he closed his eyes, knowing that to do what he was doing was risky. To be away from the Dursleys, to walk alone was risky; and he didn't care.

They sat that way for over an hour. Harry felt at ease and didn't mind when she stopped playing and they sat in silence.

"Light the candle beside you on the table, would you?" she asked eventually. "Night is almost over. The evening star is already dim."

Harry found the box of matches in the dark and struck one. He leaned over and touched the wick and sat back to look at his companion for the first time.

"Have you lost your way?" she asked.

She was a young woman, hardly thirty. She wore strange clothes, that were mended, but clean. Harry noticed that her hair hung to her waist and was pulled back at the temples. He imagined that if he saw it in the daylight there might be a touch of premature gray in it and he couldn't understand why he had the thought.

She had a plain face that was almost pretty. It was hard to tell the color of her eyes, but he saw that they were looking at him with kindness. She was rocking slowly and she held the flute in her lap. He noticed a black cat curled on a pillow next to her chair. The light of the candle was reflected in its green eyes. It blinked at him and stared.

"No," he answered. "I can find my way back home."

"I didn't mean that," she said in a soft melodic voice, but her brow furrowed as she spoke.

He felt strange and yet comforted talking to her. He knew what she meant. "Sometimes, I think I've always been lost."

"Your life is divided between two worlds and you live in both and yet you long to live in the one that is denied you at the moment," she said, easily. "You have many friends but you feel nothing right now except heartache for the one that is lost to you."

He gazed at her, feeling angry. _How could she know_, he wondered. _Was she a spy for Dumbledore, someone like Mrs. Figg. Or worse! No, _he considered, _not Voldemort's spy_. He rocked forward and was about to stand and leave.

The lips turned into a smile and she raised a hand and pointed over her shoulder to the large picture window framed in by leaded stain glass. There was a cardboard sign inside. The lettering was difficult to read but he made out the letters. It read: _**Madam Lavinsky. Fortune-telling: Tarot Reading and Palm Reading. 5 pound sterling.**_

He read the sign and almost burst out laughing. A muggle Seer! Then he looked back at her and knew that she was waiting for that very reaction from him. He stifled the reaction, _After all_, he thought, _she was accurate_.

Neither of them were startled when Hedwig silently flew through the porch and landed on the arm of the cane chair that Harry sat in.

The woman smiled again, "My friends call me Mariah," she said and picked up the flute. She played until the dusky pink of dawn overcame the blackness.

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Harry made his way up the stairs and into his room just as Vernon's alarm clock began to ring shrilly in the next room He knew that he would only have an hour of sleep before his Aunt would wake him and he would have to start his chores. He didn't care. For the first time, he felt he had something that no one in either the muggle world or the wizarding world knew about or controlled.

_If I'm very careful, no one will ever know_, he thought as he rolled into bed with his clothes on, _because the first thing they would do would be to take it away_, he murmured as he drifted off.

At eight o'clock the next morning he was already anticipating nightfall. The day seemed to drag by and he crawled through his chores and the drudgery until supper came and went. He returned to his room as always, waiting and listening to the TV in the sitting room below. At ten, the Dursleys shut off the lights and tramped up the stairs. At midnight, Harry stood up stiffly, opened Hedwig's cage and turned her loose into the night. He carried his shoes with him and crept down the stairs again.

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Harry sat and listened as Mariah strummed a dulcimer, her fingers moving across the strings to produce a silky harp-like sound reminiscent of something Indian. He closed his eyes and allowed his fevered brain to calm, sucking in the smell of a trailing vine flower that grew on a trellis near the porch.

They stayed that way for over an hour without speaking. He had neither been invited nor sent away the night before. When he arrived at the gate this evening, it was open and he followed the curvy path to the front steps. She had already set a teacup on the table beside his chair and poured him a steaming cup of tea when he sat.

The cat was on its' customary pillow and the woman was rocking and playing the instrument.

"You need not tell me your name if you don't want to," she said. "But it would help us to become friends."

Harry thought about it and sipped at his tea. "I'm Harry," he answered.

"Nice name," she said softly and continued to play.

"Should I call you Madam Lavinsky?" Harry asked.

She laughed a throaty laugh and her teeth flashed with her smile. The smile was what took away the plainness so that her beauty shown through. "Heavens, no! Not unless you are one of my customers. It is true that I am Hungarian and people say I have a slight accent when I speak. But it is only for my customers, the old ladies with the blue hair, that I 'speek vit a very heavy vord'." She smiled again. "They come at special times, Tuesdays or Fridays, every week and I tell their fortunes. It's not very hard, there's not much to tell."

"Are you a gypsy then?" Harry asked and noticed a frown. The yellow glow from the single candle illuminated her dark eyes and there was a spark there.

"Harry, my people find it offensive to be called that. It means so much and so little to many people. I use it because that attracts customers, but I am what we call, Roma." She stared across the porch and then past him into the dark. "We have been travelers in the world and have no place to truly call our home. No place where we are welcome. It's been some time since we lived in the vardos and lived free, still that does not change our nature just because we live in a house." She studied him and then stood and reached over and took his cup from his hand.

She leaned over the candle and studied the contents in the dim light; there were only dregs left. She looked at him and handed it back. In a very deep accented drawl she said, "I see that you are Destinies Child, born to carry the weight of the world on your young shoulders." She pronounced it 'vorld' and 'yung'. With a deep grunting voice, heavvly accented, she continued, "There is a darkness that surrounds you and you face an evil in your life that frightens you." She splayed her hands out over him mystically as if reading his aura and then dropped them at her sides.

He took the cup and looked into it. he thought she was much more compelling then Professor Trelawney could ever think of being. "Can you read the tea leaves then?" he asked, his mouth dry.

"No, silly," she grinned. " I am a gypsy, but it doesn't mean I can truly tell fortunes. Do you believe in that nonsense?"

"But…" he stammered.

"Well some people tell me I am really good at reading people," she said and gathered the dulcimer in her lap and sat again. "I can earn a living because people expect us to do that kind of thing. Fortune-telling is called _dukkering_ in my language." She began to play without looking at the instrument in her lap. "Some people in my tribe- with some of the families- some believe in it. My old grandmother used to stand in the back of the vardo, that is a wagon, and she would scream out at the wind to chase away evil spirits."

Harry sat the cup down and stared at her. "You don't believe in magic, or curses or any of that? Ghosts, wizards?"

She frowned slightly and shook her head laughing heartily, "Perhaps it is your imagination when you sit on a porch with an old woman like me in the middle of the night." She glanced down at the black cat. "Well, actually I can understand a little. I mean you happened on a gypsy woman sitting on a porch with a black cat and a sign that says fortune-telling. It would be easy to assume that I have some mysterious power."

She glanced at him and went on, "But no, I don't believe in that. Some things I believe. In nature, for one. When I was little my family did travel and we have always been close to nature. I know some things about plants, healing and other things." She shook her mane of hair and nodded towards the house. "I come with all the accoutrements; the crystal ball and tarot cards and amulets. My front room is a little shop and I sell candles and things to brew special potions. But I don't believe in it much."

Harry sat back and listened. He enjoyed the sound of her voice and the way she moved and talked. He found it refreshing to be around her and amusing. He wondered if she were a witch. There were probably many in the muggle world that weren't aware of their origins. He thought he'd try it out. "A witch then. Do you believe in them?"

She grinned, "Wiccans? No. No more than I believe in werewolves or vampires," she looked at him and frowned again with some amusement in it, but didn't ask him anything.

"Mariah," he rocked slowly. "Do you have family here?"

She shook her head. "No, but they will come soon. They will all arrive for a festival during midsummer's eve. Her eyes twinkled when she said it. "That doesn't mean anything by the way. We don't dance around bonfires and wear druid robes. But we will have a party and fill this yard. There will be singing and dancing and eating. Feel welcome to come then, and if you want, you will see the old-time gypsies. My family can really put on a party. My sisters and their husbands, my father and my grandfather are all still alive. They'll be here." She leaned over. "The old _drabengo_ will _dukke_r for you. She would be able to tell your fortune."

Harry didn't think he wanted anyone to tell his fortune, at least no one better at it than Mariah. For disavowing any skill at it, she had been close to home; uncomfortably close.

She watched him and they remained silent for some time.

"Harry, it doesn't take a fortune-teller to know you. It is very plain that you are lonely, that if you have family they are not a loving family. You-like the Roma- you have no place you truly call home," she smiled. "You wear clothes like mine, but worse. At least I am poor and I have an excuse. Yours are just too big and you are poorly taken care of, you look half starved. Also, there is something in your eyes that tells me you have no parents," she waved her hand, "You needn't tell me. It's just that I can see pain in you. Old and new scars that haven't yet healed. It doesn't take much. I mean you are a young man out for a stroll in the middle of the night, hardly a time for strolling."

She rocked and they studied one another. He kept silent. "You have the manner of one who draws people to him and you do have friends I'm sure because you are a likeable person.. I think these are friends that are far away from you during the summer and that's when you suffer the most." She rubbed her chin and caught the look on his face. "It drove you out into the night. You are long way from home because you run to get here and you are out-of-breath and sweaty when you arrive. See I am observant."

He rose from the chair and looked down at her.

"If I have offended you, Harry I am really sorry," she said hastily. "It's such a hard habit to break."

"No. You haven't offended me," he answered. "But it's close to dawn and as you have said, I have a ways to go to get home."

She stood, and was slightly shorter than him forcing her to look up. She smiled that radiant warm smile at him.

"Will you come again?" she asked. "I rarely have 'normal' company."

He returned the smile. "Yes, please. I'd like to." He stepped off the porch. "Mariah?" he asked, turning.

"Yes?" she replied, turning back.

"You're very trusting. How did you know I wouldn't hurt you or something?" he asked, standing in the dark.

There was silence. "I heard you crying for your mother, Harry. It came from your heart. No one who feels that way would hurt a woman." She stepped to the candle, leaned over and blew it out and left them in the dark smelling the acrid odor of the smoking wick. "I think you see something of her in me."

Harry stepped through the gate and walked down the dark street. _Yes, Mariah, I think you would be like her if I had only known her, _he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two We Had No Time to Say Goodbye

Each day Harry worked, fed Hedwig, hurried through dinner and then napped in the evening until it became dark. He kept returning to her house completely forgetting his promise to write to someone in the Order or to Ron and Hermione.

Each night that he left, he took at least a half hour to watch the street. He moved stealthily down the alleyways and when he was free from Privet Drive he bent and tied his runners and took off jogging.

It was in the second week that he told her about his parents. Harry was used to slipping through the gate, lighting the candle and listening to her play. It was always a new instrument, something different, and she always played music that sounded like it drifted up from the past; an ancient primordial past. He could sit and listen and not feel compelled to engage in conversation if he didn't feel like it.

He sat and ate the sandwiches she prepared that were lying on the plate, drank the tea and rocked in the chair that sat beside her. He didn't tell her the whole story about his parents, which he knew he could do and also knew she wouldn't believe if he did. "My parents were murdered by a very evil man. I wasn't very old, just after my first birthday." He said it suddenly as if to draw it out would be too painful to hear too many words spoken aloud. "Then, I got to know my godfather just a little over a year ago and he was also killed."

She nodded, thumbed the guitar and said gently, " How very sad for you, Harry. You have a such violence in your past."

He continued without acknowledging her sympathy, "I live with my Aunt, my mother's sister and my Uncle and their son who is the same age," he said. "They don't like me living there, but they made a promise to someone to let me stay. They hate me actually." He glanced at her to see if she would argue with him. She continued to play.

"I do have friends. You were right though, I don't get to see them except at school. I write and they write but it's not the same. I made a friend of a teacher who I like a lot- well several teachers." He thought of Hagrid, '_mustn't leave him out_- _or McGonagal'_, he decided. '_She would count, too_.' It wasn't just Lupin or even Dumbledore, he was thinking. "But that's the most of it," he said aloud and searched for words to explain how he was feeling. "I know I have friends, but sometimes I get worried that I'll lose them, too," he finally admitted.

She nodded. "With such loss in your life you have suffered already, it's not surprising."

"I lost my godfather and I'd only just got to know him. He was killed before we even had a chance to talk about important things," Harry said feeling miserable. He wished he could tell her more. He knew there was no one in the muggle world that could understand what he faced and what he lived with in his world even if he could tell.

"And you received some recent news that made it important to talk to someone. But you have no one you trust to talk to," she said. She was looking at her fingers on the strings of the guitar and glanced over at Harry's sudden gasp. "Ah, nailed that one didn't I?" She laid the guitar down on the wooden floor of the porch and allowed the black cat to nest in her lap. She stroked it. "No, Harry, I have said before, I am not psychic. I have not read your mind and I do not have an open door to your past or your heart. I just know people. I can see it in your face. You talk to me and I am almost a stranger to you. That tells me that your heart is burdened."

Harry watched her close her eyes and watched her stroke the cat. Both seemed to purr at the same time.

"I, too, have lost people important to me," she murmured and Harry heard the soft accent in her voice. "What I hear when you speak is fear and regret and sadness and grief. What I hear is a boy who doesn't see himself moving on. In my language the road is called _drom_. My people see many roads; it is our life's blood, like what runs in our veins. To be removed from the road is to leave our hopes and dreams and our lives. For many, it has been all we know. You have lost your road, I think."

She crossed her foot over and the tip of her bare toes showed beneath the long skirt. She wore her hair back in a scarf and rings in her ears. "I see something else, Harry. When we think that we have no future, then we must talk to someone. That is what men who go to battle do. Their hearts bleed out and then they face their enemy. If they die then they have made peace with it. If they don't die, they come back and it is done all over again. They are warriors and to talk is a cleansing, I think." She opened her eyes. "I think that you have been told that you must face an enemy and you don't expect to live through it."

He steadied his breathing, although his heart was pounding and he stared at her.

"So I am flattered," she said. "You have chosen me. Very well, I am here and I will listen." She said it in a matter-of-fact way and looked prepared to listen all night if need be.

Harry began to talk.

He told her all he could and mostly he told her how he felt and then he left her before dawn and started trotting down the street away from her house.

He was late and knew that the Dursleys would be up. He was thinking of a dozen reasons for being out of the house before dawn when a very familiar voice shook him from his reverie.

"I see I have wasted my time," the baritone said.

Harry glanced around and saw the figure of the tall man blending into a hedge of the same height. He was leaning against a pole and examining his nails. The clothes were different but the man dressed in them had the same dark, cold eyes.

_Snape!_

Harry stopped. He shot a look down the street knowing that his chances of making excuses to his Aunt and Uncle were getting slimmer. "Pro...professor," he gasped.

"Mr. Potter," Snape said quietly, "I thought it was understood that you would be keeping certain people informed of your health and welfare." The eyebrows arched.

Harry desperately wanted to say something along the lines of ; 'So what?' or 'What's it to you?'. Instead, he felt some mild guilt at having forgotten something so important and stood there glaring back. "Have you been following me?" he shot back.

"That is obvious," Snape said and stood straight. He started down the street in the same direction as Harry had been hurrying. Harry stepped in beside him.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

Snape stopped. "Do you or do you not need my help in explaining where you have been all night?"

Harry looked up into Snape's face. He didn't have to look far. He was growing and soon would be at the eye level of his Potion's Master. "And do you know where that was?" he asked with some anger in his voice. He was pushing. They weren't in school and he felt like unloading all of his pent-up emotions on the man who walked beside him.

He stood his ground when the Potion's Master stopped, drew himself up in his most intimidating stance and tilted his head in that characteristic way he used in his classroom. Harry knew the man was about to tear into him. He cut him off and spit out the words he longed to say, "You're in the muggle world now, Snape. I could throw a fit out here in the street and bring a lot of snoopy people to their windows. How would you explain that?"

Snape's eyebrows drew together and he turned and started up the street again.

"Who sent you?" Harry asked hurrying along. "Dumbledore? Well tell him to leave me alone. His protection has never done me any good. Why are you here? Are you supposed to be my salvation! Did you volunteer as Dumbledore's little gopher or are you here out of the goodness of your heart?!" he was being sarcastic and didn't care.

Snape whirled on him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and drew him up on his toes. "Do you have a death wish, Potter?"

"Yeah, yours," Harry said, fiercely. "Let me go!" He pulled his shirt from the man's hands and stepped back. "What do you care?" he ventured but with a little less venom. "I'm surprised you haven't given Voldemort a written invitation to meet you here. Better yet, maybe you begged him to let you do the job."

Snape folded his arms over his chest and stood waiting. "Done?" he asked after a moment.

Harry was the first to turn this time and start walking. He was infuriated and he didn't turn back to see if he followed. Snape remained standing at the curb.

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At nine o'clock he finished the last of the dishes and shut the light off in the kitchen. The Dursleys were in the sitting room and completely oblivious to his movements. Since coming in at dawn, he had been working at an ever growing list of chores as punishment for his behavior.

He climbed the stairs to his room hoping that he would have a few hours to rest. Hedwig was on the window sill and took off into the warm night air as he stepped into the room. He took his glasses off and fell into his unmade bed and closed his eyes.

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He woke in a state of almost panic realizing that he had overslept and that it was far into the night. He made it to the party by stealing Dudley's bike and learning how to ride it as he went. He'd never had a bicycle and thought it looked fairly easy to do. _If Dudley can learn when he was five I can learn at sixteen,_ he thought.

It was after some unsuccessful attempts to pedal and threats to use his wand that he finally got the motion and was able to move along at a faster clip. It dawned on him that when he returned he might have a lot to explain. He'd placed his pillows in his bed so that it looked lumpy and hoped that if Uncle Vernon peeked in, he'd be fooled. Yet he knew that coming in late for the second time might just get him sent to St. Brutus' School for Incurably Criminal Boys and his nightmare would become a reality.

The street was illuminated by the party going on and music drifted towards him along with laughter and voices of dozens of people. He had rushed to get there and then held back, walking the bike along the fence and feeling suddenly very shy. It wasn't like him to be worried and he knew he had an invitation.

Mariah saw him immediately; must have been looking for him, because she was there on the other side of the pickets smiling and talking to him. She was dressed in a long skirt and a loose blouse. She was barefooted and resembled the picture of a gypsy that he'd always had in his mind. She wore a lot gold jewelry including large ear loops and had tied her hair back with a sky blue scarf.

"You see?" she said waving a hand at the people assembled over the expanse of lawn.  
"They come in droves." She laughed and opened the gate for him. They strolled through the crowd and people stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

Men were in large circles, playing music on various instruments. Many wore hats and most were not bare-faced but wore moustaches. They all wore about the same type of clothes, baggy trousers and loose shirts. Some wore more modern clothes, sweat pants and shirts; if they were men. The women were all in skirts that went to their ankles. Harry noticed that they remained separate from the men.

Children ran and played and danced along with the music. Lavish amounts of food was spread on table cloths on the ground and women were busy serving the men as they sat. Mariah ushered him into a group and introduced him to one of the men. He in turn introduced him to the others. The men greeted him pleasantly. Most of them were in their thirties or forties. There were some older men and a few young boys his own age. It all seemed like a late night picnic.

Harry sat cross-legged in the grass and accepted a cup of very hot, sweetened tea. In telling him about the history and culture of her people during their nights together, she explained about some of the Roma customs and he wasn't surprised that the women were not part of the circle. They had many social customs that were unique to their culture. One was the hot sweetened tea that was served to everyone.

He was enjoying the music and was laughing when two men stood to dance. They held their hands in the air, shuffled their feet and were urged on by everyone, including the women in the outside circle, with laughter and shouts of encouragement. The man who introduced him was playing a guitar and his neighbor played a drum, someone was singing. The entire area was lit by lanterns strung in the branches of the grand oak tree that covered the center of the yard.

Harry once again smelled the heavy fragrance of roses mingled with tantalizing aromas of cooking foods. He rested his arms on his knees and watched the people and felt at home.

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Later, after listening to the storytellers, Harry was motioned to the leave the circle by Mariah.

"What?" he whispered.

"You have a friend who waits for you in my sitting room." She smiled at him. "He is a charming man. Perhaps you will tell me his name and invite him to join us."

"Mariah, no one I know knows that I'm here," he said frowning.

Her face grew grim with understanding. "I will come with you. Do we need someone else? One of the men?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and touched his pocket to make sure the wand was still there. He felt angry with himself. He'd been very careful every night to make sure that it would be almost impossible for someone to follow him. However, this was the one night he'd been in a hurry. _What if it's a Death Eaters,_ he thought, feeling deeply anxious. Although he was mildly worried about his own safety he was much more worried about Mariah and her people. He wasn't sure Voldemort or his people would venture into the muggle world this far in order to kill him but he couldn't guarantee it either.

"Perhaps it would be best if you stay here," he suggested.

Mariah put her hands on her hips and shook her head slightly, "It's my house Harry and if he means harm, then I am safe. There are too many of my people around. Come on, let's see to this business."

She turned and headed for the house and he quickly followed. They crossed the yard and entered the house, its' many windows glowing with light. Harry had never been inside. The old Victorian house opened at the corner of the building and immediately before them was a set of stairs that led to the first floor. Just around the corner was the sitting room or what should have been a sitting room. Instead, Mariah had fashioned it into a business area where there were several comfortable chairs. The room also had shop counters and merchandise was displayed on each of them.

Both he and Mariah stopped and looked at each other for a moment. This was the first time they had seen each other except in the light of a candle on the porch. Harry liked the soft coffee-brown hair and the rose-color in her high cheekbones. Her skin was a warm brown and her eyes dark. He pulled his eyes away and surveyed the room.

A curtain separated an area which Harry was sure was the room where Mariah gave her readings. It was a small bay window alcove with a table and two chairs. The dark figure of his visitor stood waiting in front of closed curtains, revealing only his shadow.

"I will be here," she whispered in his ear. She was so close he could feel her warm breath on him. "If you need me, just step out." She moved away quietly and Harry bent his head and walked through the arched entryway into the small alcove.

"You!" he gasped.

Snape stood in the light of lamp covered with a red scarf that was sitting on a small side table. His back was to him when he entered and Snape turned when he heard Harry push aside the beaded curtain at the entryway. He was frowning.

"You followed me," Harry snarled. Snape remained still and didn't respond. Harry felt the fury rising and he balled his hands into fists and hissed, "I am with friends and this is a private party. You are intruding."

"Really Potter, you have no idea what you are doing and who these people are," Snape said with a strange tone to his voice.

"Who they are?" Harry repeated. "They are friends."

"Gypsies!" Snape said through gritted teeth.

Harry misunderstood and grew even angrier. "So what? So what if they're gypsies?"

"Potter," Snape shook his head and pulled out a chair and sat down. He kept his voice low and said, "Even muggle gypsies are dangerous. They are some of the most skilled natural witches and wizards in the world. You run the risk of exposing us-yourself- by mingling with them."

Harry thought of Mariah's uncanny ability to know him and to know about his life. He studied Snape's face and came to an astonishing realization. The man was nervous, even frightened. He sat down across from Snape.

He was dressed in muggle clothing, but odd muggle clothing. Harry almost shook his head in wonder. _They never seem to get it exactly right, _he thought. He was thinking of the World Cup Quidditch game and how the wizards and witches had tried to disguise themselves as muggles.

He didn't know who had advised Snape about his clothing. He was dressed in a dark suit and white shirt and tie. He had on polished black patent-leather shoes. His hair was a shade of light brown and cut short. He wore cuff links on the shirt, a tie pin and even had a gold ring on his hand. All was in order except for the hat. It was a Homburg, a hat with a high dented crown and a slightly rolled brim. Harry didn't have the heart to tell him that no one had worn hats, particularly this kind of hat, in the muggle world for ages.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, drawn back to the conversation.

"There are over a hundred of them out in that yard," Snape said, tightly. "I've even seen a few old women. They are the worst. The energy that surrounds these people will draw HIM to you. Did you ever consider that, Potter? And if that happens your _friends _will be in danger." Snape leaned back and crossed his legs, turning his face away and said dryly, "Not to mention that you endanger yourself without good cause."

"Just why are you here?" Harry asked curiously. " I'm not supposed to leave my Aunts' house until the end of the month. That's days away. Not that I'm going by the way." He slipped that in knowing that it would irritate Snape.

Snape turned back to him. He didn't have a chance to respond before. Mariah moved the curtain aside and came into the room. Harry watched her. She was smiling at Snape.

"Harry, you should tell me the name of this most handsome friend of yours that you bring to our gathering," she spoke in a heavy Hungarian accent. He knew that she was being protective by faking her heavy accented speech. He also raised an eyebrow at her terminology. He'd never considered his Potion's Master as handsome.

"It's alright Mariah," Harry said, as Snape stood to be introduced. "This is a friend." Snape looked at him and then shook her hand. She smiled charmingly at him and then glanced at Harry. In a normal voice she said, "I have seen enemies that look upon each other with kinder faces than you two show each other If he is your 'friend' then I am a donkey's ass."

She sat at the table and with practiced grace, swept away the cloth that covered her crystal ball, leaned in and caressed it. "Your friend has a dark, brooding nature that hides his vulnerabilities. I think underneath hides a man who has a ravenous hunger." Her eyes grew smoky and sultry, the long lashes dropping to the satin cheeks. She adopted the Hungarian accent again, "He hides his vorries for you." She stared at the globe with a teasing smile and went on, "There is a mystery that you share, but you can not reveal your hearts to one another," she whispered. Harry knew that she was putting on an act. Once again she was very close to the truth. He was thinking about this, watching Snape watching her when he saw her teasing smile turn to a frown.

The glass was a swirling mass of smokiness. She withdrew her hands abruptly in astonishment and Snape reached over and dropped the black cloth over the top of it and reached for her hand. "Madam Lavinsky," his voice was velvety smooth and seductive. Harry was shocked by the transformation and couldn't speak. Snape went on, "perhaps it is time to rejoin your guests. They must be missing you."

She stood, her hand still within his grasp and her gaze on the covered globe. "That's never happened before," she gasped.

Harry looked at her and then at Snape and suddenly felt a sharp pain almost cleave his head in two. He reached for his scar and felt a dreadful shadow gathering in his mind.

"Potter!" Snape was next to him, demanding, "What is it? Is it HIM?"

Harry bent over, feeling nauseous and grabbed the back of a chair. "Professor," he grunted. "He's coming; he's coming here."

A strong hand reached under his arm and yanked him up and pulled him to the door.

Harry's vision darkened and the light in the room that had been so brilliant a second before, was now the size of a candle flame. He cried out resisting Snape's pull. "No! Mariah. She'll get hurt! He'll kill her." He struggled to twist away from the grip and turn back into the room.

"Harry, what is it?" she asked. She followed them and was at his side. "Should I get my father, my cousins? Is this man going to hurt you?"

"Mariah," he mumbled and reached for her, blindness overtaking him. "Come with me now! If you wait, you will get killed!" He was reaching out for her, trying to find her, while Snape pulled him by the other arm. He felt her hand on his other arm.

"Potter, we have to go, now!" Snape hissed, yanking him viciously.

"Mariah, you must come with me!" Harry cried pulling her along with them.

"But my people, they'll wonder where I've gone. When will I return?" she asked.

"Potter, she can't come with us. It's forbidden!" Snape was dragging him and Harry still gripped her hand and wouldn't let go.

"She comes or I stay!" Harry said and felt himself on the edge of consciousness. "I can't hold out against him forever. If you don't know it yet, Professor, then understand that the Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries was about me. I'm the one that has to kill HIM or he kills me," he whispered.

"Potter, shut your mouth!" Snape was almost spitting with fury. "You are talking in front of a muggle!"

"He's trying to reach in. His thoughts are like knives!" Harry sighed and felt himself go to his knees. A pair of hands grasped him under his arms on both sides.

The last thing he heard Snape say was, "We'll both be thrown into Azkaban for this."

_Better that then St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, _Harry thought and passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 All I Touch Turns to Dust

Harry found himself awake and laying on a soft surface, with the hum of voices nearby. Before opening his eyes, he felt it prudent to hear the conversation and could tell that Snape was talking. A soft female voice murmured occasionally, asked a few questions, but otherwise remained silent.

"You have entered a world apart from your own," Snape was saying. "It is a special world where magic rules and the people who live here are wizards and witches. It's beyond me to explain it all to you in such a brief time. Suffice it to say that I brought you here to keep you safe."

"Is it safe here?" Mariah asked.

Snape must have nodded and then continued with his explanation, "There is a wizard, a sorcerer who is the most evil man of our age. We do not speak his name and I prefer to call him the Dark Lord, if you please." Harry could tell that Snape was avoiding her question about Voldemort's name. There was something else Harry could hear in the voice, a gentle tenderness, as if the man were trying very hard to be kind.

"Do you expect me to believe this?" she asked quietly.

There was silence.

"Am I a prisoner here?" she asked.

"No, Madam Lavinsky," Snape responded. "You are not. But you are here because it is safer for you; it is to protect you. The man who was coming would have killed you and all that were near you."

"Why does this man want this boy?" she asked and Harry knew she was looking at him. He could hear Snape's intake of breath.

"This boy is special in our world," he said. "His parents were opposed to the rise of this Dark Lord and he killed them. He also tried to kill Mr. Potter and when he did, his spell rebounded. It caused that scar on Pot…on Harry's forehead and it almost killed the wizard who cast it. It took the Dark Lord a little more than eleven years to regain his strength. Now, he seeks this boy's death. There is a prophecy that says that he must kill the boy, or be killed by him. That's all I can tell you."

Harry listened to the explanation, fascinated by the way Snape was describing it and also surprised. Snape had never spoken his first name before within his hearing.

"Why do you all believe such nonsense," Mariah said with some disgust lacing her voice. "Prophecies are rarely accurate. Believe me, I should know, I make enough of them."

"In this world, Miss Lavinsky," he paused. "It is Miss?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. "I'd prefer that you call me Mariah." Her voice was tinged with a strange note of humor and fear. Harry could sense that she thought it all was a joke and that it would soon end. He knew that she wasn't at all sure that she hadn't been kidnapped.

"You ask why we believe such a thing," he continued. "In this world, these things come true." Again, Harry listened to the sounds of them both breathing.

"He called you Professor?" she started.

"Yes," Snape said. "He attends a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am his Potion's Professor." The answer was given slowly and carefully, as if he were waiting for her to absorb it.

She laughed. "Potion's Professor?" Again Snape remained silent and she persisted, "You're telling me that if I get up and try to leave that you won't stop me?"

"No, Madam, "Snape replied. "I wouldn't try to stop you, but the door might. Charms have been placed upon it to keep people out and secure the house. It would also not recognize you and open for you." Again, there was a faint tinkle of her laughter.

"Why did Harry cry out and say that this Dark Lord was coming? How would he know that?" Mariah asked the question and Harry could hear her stand and begin to move around the room. He wasn't sure where they were but guessed that Snape had brought them to #12 Grimmauld Place. It was protected and safe. He could also smell the faint odor of mustiness and decay and it was very familiar.

"Harry shares a peculiar link with the Dark Lord when the initial spell was cast on him in infancy. The Dark Lord can enter his mind," Snape said. This time Harry heard the man turn towards him as if surveying him in his unconscious state, with some concern etching his voice. Harry had never heard that either.

"Telepathy? He can read his mind," Mariah asked from somewhere behind the sofa that Harry was laying on."

"Actually, it's a bit more intrusive then that," Snape answered and Harry thought, _Right you are to that, Snape! Intrusive is hardly the word, more like an ax stuck in my skull._

"My family will be worried," Mariah said. "When do you think I can return to my home?" There was dead silence for a full minute and then she spoke again. Harry could feel her body press up against the back of the sofa and he could hear her grasp it. "I am being told all of this information because you don't intend to let me return."

"Mariah," Snape's voice was very, very tender, "You must understand that I made a mistake in bringing you here. I was desperate to get Harry away so that the Dark Lord could not have him. HE insisted in bringing you along. It is against our rules to expose our world to the mug…to yours."

"You called me a muggle before," she said. "What does it mean?"

"It means people in the non-magical world," he answered. "Mariah, what you must understand is that we will be hard-pressed to not end up before the Wizengamot- the wizard's court of law- for bringing you here, I, at least, cannot allow you to return. I do not have that authority. You are free to move about in this world and I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you. But I think it safer if you remain here until you adjust."

Harry heard her choked cry and opened his eyes carefully to observe her leaning almost directly over him. Her face was twisted in anguish and she gripped the back edge of the sofa with white-knuckled hands.

"I am trapped here?" she cried out. "But you and Harry… you move between both worlds. Why can't I? I wouldn't tell anyone." She shook her head and the long hair cascaded down shadowing her face. "Honestly, no one would believe me anyway."

Harry looked up at her and slowly tucked his arm under him and rose up to a sitting position. She was looking at him and a tear was rolling down her face.

"I'm sorry you have to leave your home and family," he murmured and dropped his head. "It seems that all I touch turns to dust. I shouldn't have even talked to you." He dropped his feet to the floor and looked up at Snape. The man returned his look. For once he wasn't glaring or frowning. He was looking back and then his eyes traveled to Mariah. Harry saw sympathy and sadness written there.

Mariah moved around the end of the sofa and sat. Harry turned to her. "I'm sorry. It was different for me. I'm half muggle. My mother was born muggle and then she received a letter inviting her to Hogwarts. I received mine when I was eleven, " Harry said quietly. "I was so miserable at my aunt's house that I wanted to come here and be a wizard, as if that truly was my destiny, and now it is my home. It's who I am," Harry finished and stared at his shoes. "I don't know how we're chosen to be here in this world, Mariah, but if you can't return then I will try and help as much as I can."

"He's really got you brain-washed, doesn't he Harry," Mariah said, glaring for the first time. "You really think you are a…a witch?"

"Wizard, actually," Harry said and reached for her hand.

"Ha!" Sheexclaimed and jumped to her feet, turning away from them. "Let's see if you can be trusted to be honorable and keep your word. I'm leaving!" She whirled and stomped out of the room. Snape closed his eyes and folded his hands in his lap. Harry scrunched his face in a worried frown, also waiting.

The first thing they heard were the wails and screeches from the portrait of Mrs. Black that was hung on the wall. They heard the sound of the door talking and then a scream from Mariah. Harry jumped to his feet just as the house elf Kreacher waddled into the room, looking horrified and angry. Just behind him Mariah flew back into the room, her shawl wrapped tightly around her.

She scurried to Harry's side and fearfully watched the house elf. Mrs. Black continued to shriek until Snape stood and left the room. Harry could hear him casting the spell to shut her off.

"What…what is that creature?" Mariah asked standing behind Harry, still looking at Kreacher.

"Kreacher is not pleased. Bringing a filthy, muggle-born into the house displeases the mistress" Kreacher said gutturally. "This is the house of Black. It is pureblood and should remain pureblood."

Harry was angry and frightened for Mariah. "Why are you here Kreacher? Sirius is dead. The only other living Black is Narcissa Malfoy. Why don't you go to her?" he growled advancing on the elf.

"Kreacher cannot go to Narcissa Black," Kreacher said, chin defiantly in the air. "The treacherous, traitor of our lady's son has gone and left this house to you. He's adopted Potter as his son before he died." Kreacher was holding his hands behind his back and put one hand forward, holding a rolled up parchment. It was tied with a black ribbon. "This paper says that you are now our master," The elf grimaced.

Harry took the paper just as Snape re-entered the room. He'd forgotten all about the frightened woman beside him as he opened the rolled up paper and read it.

"You is now a Black," Kreacher said, with a furious frown. "Kreacher must do what his Master bids."

Harry threw the paper on the floor in anger, "Get out!" he shouted. _Black? _he thought as he digested the information. _I'm a Black? Hardly!_

"Harry?" Mariah touched his shoulder and he spun around to her, his jaw set in fury. She recoiled and held her hand up terrified. Snape was at her side in two long steps.

"Miss Lavinsky," he said guiding her to the sofa. ""It's time you had some tea and rested. This has been difficult for you. It may take some time to fully digest what I have been saying."

She nodded and pulled the shawl tighter, murmuring, "Yes, yes, it has been strange." She was clearly in shock.

Harry's anger quickly died away as he watched her. His problems seemed small in comparison to what she was presently experiencing. He sat down beside her and felt helpless.

Harry knew immediately that Snape made a mistake when he whirled his wand and produced a tray with a teapot and cups and a plate of biscuits. Mariah jumped back and stared at it.

"Professor," Harry said, quickly. "Perhaps we should leave Mariah alone for a moment. "Could I have a word with you in the kitchen?"

Snape nodded as he watched the woman look under the tea table and run her hands around the edges.

-------------------------

"Well we've done it now, Potter," were the first words of Snape's mouth. "We have a muggle sitting out there who will be as helpless as a child in our world."

"Would you have left her for Vol…" Harry stopped and dropped down at the table in the kitchen, "for Him?"

They glared at each other.

"Perhaps it's time to call the Ministry. They have wizards that can put a memory charm on her and send her home," Harry said. "They did it at the World Cup Quidditch. It's not fair to keep her here."

Snape sat in the chair across the table. "That's all very well and good Mr. Potter, but not possible. The Ministry is in disarray since you left at the beginning of the holidays. Minister Fudge is currently on sabbatical, Delores Umbridge is rallying allies and Dumbledore is busy trying to stop the Dark Lord from starting an all-out war. Do you really want Ministers from the Ministry of Magic to know that we have brought a muggle into this? Especially a gypsy!"

Snape watched Harry bristle and a tortured smile formed on his lips. "You forget who you are and how fast news would travel. You are an asset in this war whether you choose to act like one or not. And believe me, we are at the brink of war as we speak." Snape folded his hands and laid them on the table. His brooding black eyes surveyed Harry. "We are not out of the woods, Potter. I doubt that you can kill the Dark Lord right now and he would most certainly kill you. I think it would be wise to keep you alive until we have a plan. Mariah is a liability right now, but an innocent in all of this. I made the decision and she is now my responsibility."

Harry chose to ignore his last remark. "Everyone was starting to believe that Vol…that HE was alive," Harry protested. "When I left for holidays, Fudge was even saying so. Have there been deaths, something…?"

"Having Cornelius Fudge declare that HE is indeed alive is a long way from convincing the world," Snape hissed. "HE has not made a move, has not been seen, has done nothing to attract attention to himself. It would be prudent to keep your name out of the news, I think. It would only be a means for him to track you down more easily. As you can tell from your last little episode, he is searching diligently. What you felt is but a taste of his skills, Mr. Potter."

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, meekly, remembering the pain of having Voldemort enter his thoughts.

Snape stared at him. Once again the usual grim, angry face was missing. "You mean what am I going to do? You will be going to school and I will be there teaching. We cannot leave her here. This house is too dangerous and she would get hurt." Snape templed his fingers and touched them to his mouth; thinking.

Snape turned so that Harry was able study his profile.

"So…" Harry stared at the table. "What about her own people? The gypsies?"

Snape cleared his throat. "Perhaps I have not been clear. The gypsies are notoriously hard to locate unless they want to be found. They are…phenomenal in their knowledge and power, even the muggle ones." he stopped and Harry looked up. He could hear the worry in his Potion Master's voice as he said, "They are a solitary people and don't like being disturbed."

_You're afraid_, Harry thought. "Surely, you could find them," he said.

Snape looked over. "Yes, I could…."

"Well?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Mr. Potter," Snape's normal hard demeanor returned. "It is not as easy as it sounds. You also forget that Miss Lavinsky is a fish out of water. Even if she were placed with her own people here; she would still be a muggle. I don't know if they'll accept her." He stood and wandered around the room. "However, she will have to be helped- assisted for the time being. That means one of us must be near her at all times, especially in this house."

Harry squinted and returned to staring at the table. He found himself looking at something scratched in the wood. It was a heart and in it were the initials; RW + HG. _Who could have scratched it here?_ he wondered. And then he knew- Ron. Ron would have carved it into the wood. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, he mouthed, rubbing it with his thumb. _Hermione! _he muttered to himself

"Hermione Granger," Harry sputtered loud enough for Snape to hear.

Snape stared at him.

"Hermione's parent's are both muggle," Harry explained. "She's very smart and she's very kind. I think she could help."

The door opened and Mariah stepped in and looked at both of them. She seemed calm, although it was clear that she had been weeping. She squared her shoulders and said, "It appears I am on a road less traveled, but I am safe and I owe you my life. I guess that what my grandmother told me is true; in the end all wagon tracks lead home." She smiled wanly and set down at the table. "Professor?"

"Madam," Snape was in a chair beside her in a split second. "Please call me Severus or Mr. Snape. I'd prefer it."

Harry was again surprised by how different Snape could be in dealing with a woman.

_He's actually charming_, Harry thought in horror.

She nodded and said, "Since you travel between the worlds, I ask a favor. One; that you bring my cat to me. His name is Bantu." Snape nodded and she reached for his hand as if to impress her wishes even further. "Secondly, I would like you to leave a note for my family, where they can find it. So I would ask that you leave a note that I write in my own hand. Will you do this?"

Snape looked her in the face and nodded. She turned a tear-stained face to Harry, "I've always been such a skeptic on the surface. I think that I have tried to show people that gypsies are really just normal people. That there's nothing mysterious or strange about us." She laughed uneasily and continued, "I realize that being a fortune-teller wasn't the best way, but still, I usually acted like a normal person." She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts and shook her head and stopped. "Now magic and sorcery are normal here in this world. What does that make me?"

"Mariah, I am so sorry," Harry said hurriedly.

She smiled and reached for his hand, holding Snape's in one and his in the other. "You both saved me from being killed. I should be grateful. It has also put you in a bad spot from what you say...and what I've just overheard. I think that there is enough Roma left in me that I can take this new road and survive."


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4 The Duel and the Feud

Something happened unexpectedly. She gripped their hands with a ferocious strength and her eyes glazed over. She seemed to be looking around in a daze and murmuring. A faint current that felt like electricity was making a circuit of their hands.

Snape was frantically trying to withdraw his and said, "I knew it!"

Harry was too busy watching this transformation take place to pull his hand away. Mariah's face paled and she stared out into space, her hair grew more voluminous and had a faint tinge of chestnut color. Harry looked into her eyes that changed from a non-descript hazel to a grassy green. The face was familiar.

"I forget…" she muttered and swung her head back and forth as if seeing something different then the drab kitchen where they sat. "Oh, I remember!"

"Who are you?" Harry gasped, enthralled by what he was seeing.

She stared back and answered, "I…I'm Lily. I'm Lily Evans."

Harry felt himself tumbling, along with a filmy disembodied figure at his shoulder- down into her mind.

He opened his eyes and stared out across a grassy lawn and saw the tall spires of the white castle. They were at Hogwarts on a fine spring day and he was walking arm-in-arm with James Potter. Two other figures strolled next to them and one trailed behind; Remus Lupin and Sirius Black and the latter, Peter Pettigrew. Ahead of him were tents of various colors all pitched along an avenue, their steepled, peaked roofs flew flags of the house colors. The diamond-studded waves on the lake were dotted with sailboats and white sails. People strolled the grounds, parents and their children along with pupils from the school. The students were wearing special cloaks for the day and each had a cap of their house color.

_Graduation day! _Harry thought. Somewhere, crowded into the mind along with him was Snape. He realized that the figure that fell into this mind was that of his potion's teacher nearby. _Where are we? _he questioned.

Snape looked at him and without moving his lips said, _I told you that she is a gypsy. An untrained, ungoverned mind is dangerous._

Harry looked back through her eyes. They were walking towards a couple that had stopped to speak to other parents.

"Hello Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter," Lily said. Harry was behind her eyes looking out through them at a world long since passed.

The man smiled at her from beneath a full, handle-bar moustache touched with gray. He had warm gray eyes and apple-red cheeks. "Come now, Lily. You are soon to be my daughter, not daughter-in-law, just daughter. You must call us Henry and Liz." He turned to the woman near him with blond hair. "Isn't that right, Liz-beth? Our new daughter must call us by our names." The woman smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Alright, Henry," Lily said allowed him to hug her and noticing that James was grinning sheepishly, Sirius was smiling and Remus blushing shyly. _Why must you always be so shy Remus_, she thought. She stepped back and took James arm again.

_It feels good to have parents_, she thought and Harry listened, s_ince I have none of my own to speak of_.

As a group, they strolled through the tents and chatted. Lily was feeling happy and smiling as they all listened to Sirius. He was telling them once again about having gotten a letter from the Ministry urging him to apply for a position. She glanced ahead and sucked in her breath, pulling back on James' arm.

They all looked up at the same time to see Brutus Snape talking heatedly to Dumbledore. As they drew near, the man dressed in an immaculate white summer suit and cloak, stepped away from their headmaster and turned their way. Lily noticed that a few steps behind him a tall woman, dressed in a gown of white and wearing a wide-brimmed summer bonnet stopped and dropped her gaze to the ground. Her arm was wrapped into that of her son's. Harry almost didn't recognize the young Snape

Severus stood by his mother holding her arm and looking out towards the lake. Lily noted that this was not the typical Severus they knew or saw in classes and on the grounds. This Severus was as well groomed as his father. He stood near his mother, wearing his dark midnight blue suit, a watch chain across the front of his vest, standing in highly polished black leather boots. His hair was clean and combed and he looked altogether like a different person.

Brutus Snape stopped short and exclaimed, "Well, if it isn't the Potters."

Lily studied the tall man with the brown hair and the dark brown eyes. He was extremely attractive. What gave him away was the cruelness in the eyes.

"Hello, Brutus," Henry Potter replied." Fine day it is t send our children out into the world. And how are you Mrs. Snape?" The man spoke very kindly towards the lady who was staring at the ground demurely.

Brutus Snape glared at Henry Potter and stepped in front of his wife who seemed to cower behind him. Severus held his mother's arm more firmly and remained silent. "I see you're still letting your son run around with these half-bloods, Henry. I was just complaining to Dumbledore about how many he has allowed to attend Hogwarts this term. Merlin's beard, Henry! How many times to I have to repeat myself. They are diluting the strength of the pureblood families, can't you see?"

Henry Potter blanched at the outburst and slowly and quietly said, "This is not the time or place to talk politics, Brutus."

"Of course you wouldn't want to talk about this Henry. I hear you are going to let your only son marry one of them!" The cruel eyes swept over their heads and stopped on Lily. The glance was almost a leer. "Dirty the blood. That's what it'll do. I wouldn't let my son near one."

"How dare you insult Lily!" Sirius had leapt forward. His face was flushed with anger. "Your… your son! Why your son is the class coward, Snape. We call him Ol' Snivellus Snape! He's nothing compared to Lily. He's dirt under her shoes. You and your pureblood nonsense!"

James had his eyes closed and was wincing at every word. Remus stepped up and tried putting his hand on Sirius' arm to stop him and the Potters were paling as he spoke. They all knew that Brutus Snape was a very powerful and rich man. He consorted with many pureblood aristocracy including the Malfoy's, the Nott's and others; to cross him was to ask for trouble.

"And you, a Black!" Brutus Snape hissed. "You are an embarrassment to your parents. It is no wonder they disowned you. I insist that you apologize to my son. Severus!" He whirled on Severus who was flushing red with embarrassment and fear. He was gazing at Lily and she was looking back with a sad, longing look on her face. She knew that he had not heard the news of her engagement to James. She wanted to be the one to tell him first.

Severus let his mother's arm go and he stepped forward, his voice tremulous, "Yes, father." Brutus turned to Sirius who was almost foaming at the mouth and struggling to free himself from Lupin's hold, as if he would throw himself bodily at the man.

"I will not apologize to that…that slime ball!" Sirius spat.

James reached for him this time and shouted, "Sirius, stop it. That's enough!" Remus pulled the other arm and the two held him.

"This calls for a duel of honor," Brutus Snape said to Henry Potter.

"Now, Brutus," Henry Potter said soothingly. "They are just boys. Do we want to involve ourselves in childish disputes."

"The Snape name has been impugned, Potter. They are not children, they are of age, adults," The man said seething. "We will have a duel Potter. It will either be between you and me or between Black and my son. Which shall it be?"

Henry Potter was staring back in disbelief. Lily knew that for the two older men to duel would almost certainly start an all-out war. Everyone knew that Brutus Snape was secretly supporting Tom Riddle who had taken to calling himself Lord Voldemort.

Day by day more people were taking Riddle's side. He proclaimed to be the savior of the wizarding world. The one who would cleanse it of the 'dirtied blood'. In the meantime, Lily also knew that people like the Potters were trying to combat the movement with one of their own. They, too, had been organizing others to help them fight; the Longbottoms, Finnigans and even Headmaster Dumbledore was helping.

Severus was looking at his father with horror, his mother was mewling pathetically behind them and James was staring at Sirius as if he had grown a second head.

"I'll fight you!" Sirius gasped breathlessly, this time it was with James' arm around his neck trying to choke off his words.

"Shut it, Sirius!" James growled.

"Very well," Brutus Snape said with a grim smile. "This evening after the ceremony, here on the grounds, at ten." Snape turned sharply towards his wife and took her by the arm leaving Severus gazing after for a second. The boy looked back at them; James holding Sirius, Lupin gaping at Sirius and Lily frowning at the younger Snape. He turned slowly and followed his father.

Harry could feel his mother's anguish, could hear each sound perfectly, could smell the grass, the fragrance of new flowers and feel the coolness of the summer breeze. He looked over at the shadow that was his companion. Snape was bent as if in pain, his face turned away and his shoulders shaking. Harry floated in the netherworld of his mother's mind as the scenery changed.

---------------------

It was dark. Torches lit the area where the tents were pitched. The ceremonies had ended but the people had not gone home. They were gathering.

Lily Evans stole away from the small group that included her new fiancée, his friends and parents and searched the tents until she found the right one. Brutus Snape, his wife and some of their friends, which included Lucius Malfoy, were gathering just outside a green tent; a Slytherin tent. She found an opening and yanked it up to slide underneath. He was there.

"Severus," she whispered urgently.

He turned and she could tell that he had been crying. He was in his old school clothes, all black and he was sitting on a bench.

"Why are you here?" he groaned. "Go away!"

She walked over and sat down and tried to take his hand. He drew it back.

"You can't fight Sirius," she said quietly and gently. "Sirius will hurt you."

Severus stared into the dark of the tent and shook his head. They could hear laughter outside the tent. "It doesn't matter Lily. If I don't fight him, my father will kill me."

She gulped in fear. She knew that he wasn't exaggerating. Brutus Snape would surely hurt him badly if he refused to fight. She tried to sound reassuring, "But Sirius is really good at dueling. Listen, I have a plan."

He turned to her before she could continue and asked, "You're going to marry Potter aren't you?" Grief was etched in his face.

"Severus," she began and took his hand in her own. "Your such a dear. I wouldn't hurt you for the world, but we've talked about this before."

He jerked his hand from hers and stood. "I know. You don't love me!"

"No. No I don't," she answered calmly and stood to face him. "But I do care. It won't matter who wins tonight and you know it. This isn't really about the two of you dueling. This sets the stage. If you win then Voldemort and your father and Victor Malfoy, his son Lucius and all the rest- they'll call for our blood. Remember me Severus, I'm a mud blood. You said it yourself. They'll make sure the world is rid of us." She felt great compassion for him mixed with true fear of what would happen to her kind.

He looked at her and accepted her touch. "You know I didn't mean it. It's just that... that…Black. He's….well...he deserves to get stomped."

"Never mind that!" Lily gasped. "If Sirius beats you, he'll be killed. You know it'll happen. Your father and his friends will do it. He's not a Black anymore, he's left his family. Severus, you know he was just being so stupid this afternoon. He's hotheaded and he never thinks before he acts." She shook her head in frustration. " He such an embarrassment to all the purebloods and he knows it. He rubs it in their faces. The point is, you can't beat him and we both know it."

Severus nodded slowly. The voices outside were getting louder. "What is your plan?"

"Let James fight you instead," she answered quickly. "You're better matched anyway. It'll look better. You have to agree to this Severus and I know that I can talk him into it. You've both got to have a draw, neither of you can win."

"Potter?" he winced and drew back. "But Lily! He's no better than Black."

"That's not true and you know it. You're just mad because I'm going to marry him."

Severus was frowning and didn't look as if he would agree. She continued, "You owe him your life," she reminded him. "You'll both be punished," she looked at him with sympathy, " but it won't lead to war. Do this for me. I'll handle Sirius."

Severus gazed at her and dropped his head. "Lily…"

"Just do it for me and I will promise you….," she didn't finish, but reached out and

touched his arm. "It's for all of us. We've got to think beyond the grounds of Hogwarts. We're of age now. What happened to you during school was between children. We're grown now and we've got to stop this war. Will you do it?"

Severus nodded slowly and Lily wrapped her arms around him, gave him a hug and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Severus you will always be my friend. If you ever need my help you will have it."

"What about Potter?" he said dully.

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and looked him straight in the eyes, "You have my word. Whenever you need my help all you have to do is ask."

---------------------------

Mariah withdrew her hands from theirs and spread them on the table. "I'm not sure about what I'm feeling or thinking right now, although I think I in shock." she said. "But I have this picture in my mind. Sometimes I think it is a dream and sometimes it feels very real." She looked up with eyes that sparkled from fresh tears and lashes that held the last tiny wet diamonds. "I have these visions all the time and I've always ignored them. Now, I'm here and you tell me that such things are commonplace and I've not gone mental. Imagine that! Probably everyone sees the future." She looked at both of them for some kind of affirmation. "Anyway, I saw this sorcerer and I thought it was a nightmare. He was so horrible and...so powerful! If that's what you saved me from I'm grateful."

Snape and Harry looked at each other quickly and then back to her. She didn't know what had just happened; had been unaware that she had been a channel for Harry's dead mother. and for her memories.

Harry was shaking his head slowly, flexing his hand that felt numb from her recent grip. He started talking to answer her and to give himself time to pull himself together, "True seers are very rare here, Mariah." He was thinking of Professor Trelawney. He went on, conscious of Snape's presence across the table and the knowledge he now had. He continued, "It's going to be hard to explain but magic is used for almost everything in daily life. But there are things that wizards and witches can't do any better than most muggles. I'm only just learning myself."

Snape was just out of his line of vision and Harry could hear him breathing in the stillness of the kitchen.

She nodded at Harry as she listened and then shook her head. "Well, I will try to learn quickly. In the meantime, I am very tired."

"Oh! Of course," Snape said, quickly as if to delay the questioning and the answers. "I have been neglectful. It's almost daylight and you haven't slept. Potter, show her up to one of the rooms." He snaped the order at Harry.

"Why do you do that?" she asked, looking up at him. "You treat me with such kindness and I am a stranger. Harry is your student and you speak so cruelly to him. In there," she nodded at the door indicating the drawing room where they had been earlier, "you talked about him as if you cared about him."

Snape flushed red and his jaw was working. He was flustered. Harry knew that all Snape wanted to do was get away from both of them as quickly as he could. Harry felt the need to be alone too and think about what had happened. He admired Snape for having such composure.

"Madam," Snape began.

She stood and looked up, studying his face with such fierceness that he stopped. "You may call me Mariah and I will call you Severus and I expect that you will address Harry by his first name, at least when he is not in school. Harry show me to a bedroom and a place where I can wash up." She was still looking at Snape and talking to him. "I will sleep for a few hours."

They both nodded obediently.

"I don't imagine I will know how to cook you breakfast here," she looked around at the kitchen. "So I will expect one of you to do it. Then we will begin lessons." She looked at Snape. "Since you are a teacher, then you can teach me. Will you bring Bantu by before morning?"

Snape nodded and folded his hands in front of him, he looked almost docile, like the boy that Harry had seen in Mariah's vision and through his own mother's eyes.

Mariah turned to Harry, "You'll have a job too. I think you owe me a story."

Harry stopped halfway out of his chair. "A story?"

She nodded, and said, "Yes. I think you have a lot to tell me about yourself and…and this horrible sorcerer you must face and I want you to find me something to play, a musical instrument of some kind. I would think that a house as big as this would have a music room. You do have music in this world don't you" She raised an eyebrow and didn't allow either of them to finish. "Of course, every civilization has music. Also, maybe there is a garden or a place to breath fresh air. I think this house needs airing out and cleaning. It smells like death."

She headed out of the room and stopped. Her back was to them. "I've had many premonitions since meeting you Harry. I think tomorrow we need to talk about what to do about this Dark Lord who has these telepathic powers." She stepped through the door and stopped to say very quietly, "If I am to start believing in my visions then you should know; I have this sense that he is hiding in the muggle world and not in this one. Maybe I can help you find him. Maybe I will serve some purpose here." She disappeared down the hall and left them standing gaping after her.

Harry started to follow and Snape asked him under his breath as he went by, "Can you cook anything?" Harry stopped and stared at him and slowly shook his head. Snape looked at him and asked, "What are telepathic powers?"

Harry swallowed hard and said, "My aunt follows a recipe when she cooks. It's like combining ingredients for a potion. They have cookbooks that have recipes in them. Most muggles keep them in the kitchen." He stepped through the door after Mariah and then turned back to the man who stood stiffly in the center of the room, and said, "Telepathic powers means reading someone's mind."

With his back to him Harry added, "Professor? I'm sorry. When I was snooping in the Pensieve that day… and today, I'm …I'm just sorry. I don't mean to always be violating your privacy." He left without hearing a reply. He had a hundred questions that he knew he couldn't ask.

He climbed the stairs and showed Mariah the room that Hermione and Ginny had taken the year before . He found his own room, the one he shared with Ron. He lit a candle, dropped off his clothes and fell on top of the covers. His head ached and he needed time to think.

He'd been rescued from Mariah's house by Snape and they were in Sirius' house. It was so familiar and yet, so empty and lonely. Harry expected to hear Sirius thundering down the hallway on his way to somewhere, going at it full throttle.

Then, there had been Mariah's vision with him just lurking behind his mother's eyes, sitting there watching like a voyeur what must have eventually become the feud of the century.

And then there was Snape. He rubbed his face vigorously as if that would rub out the shame and embarrassment he felt. _How are we ever going to look at one another in the morning_, he wondered and fell promptly to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5 The Bird…

Harry sat in the sitting room alone, writing the letter to Hermione. He kept it short. His mind kept drifting to Snape and his mother's memories they shared. He knew, while hidden in Mariah's mind, what his mother was feeling, knew that she considered Snape a friend; something they had both kept secret. Harry knew why they kept it secret; it was to protect Severus from his father, Brutus Snape.

He wondered what had happened. Events, connected or not, must have escalated very quickly after that night. Voldemort began killing people. Two years later he killed Harry's parents and almost succeeded in killing him. Snape was a teacher at Hogwarts by then and Harry was sure he had been a Death Eater for the Dark Lord. Something had happened that changed his mind, something that changed in a period of two years. _Dumbledore would never have a Death Eater teaching at Hogwarts, _he thought. Snape was spying for Dumbledore or at least that's what everyone thought.

Harry sat on the sofa, his feet propped on the back and sat daydreaming about the past.

With very little thought he wrote at the head of a piece of parchment, the greeting; Dear Remus.

He closed his eyes and reviewed the whole vision from the night before, scene-by-scene. The look of his grandparents whom he had never known, his father once again at a very young age and Sirius. _Ah yes, Sirius_, Harry thought. _You were hot tempered weren't you? _He contemplated the thin boy who acted without thinking, who attacked with little provocation. Harry thought about how Sirius had been so quick to be at Snape's throat and the look on Snape's face. Why did they hated each other so much? Was it because Sirius didn't get to duel with him that night. Because his own father, James pretended to lose or at least draw even with him? What had happened?

Harry glanced at the parchment and nodded, _Yes. Remus_. _You're the exact person I need to talk. You will know. _Harry finished the letter and rolled it. Then he realized that Hedwig was not with him. He'd never really considered her during the events that had taken place during the night and suddenly realized he'd left her behind.

"Harry," Mariah called to him and he answered, "Here in the study." She entered and to his surprise carried Hedwig on her arm. She was stroking her feathers gently and talking to her. "My people think that owls are signs of ill fortune and even death."

Harry stood and took Hedwig from her. "I think that there are differences in our world, Mariah. Hedwig is a friend. Owls deliver the mail here." He tied the rolls of parchment on her feet. "Hedwig always seems to know what I need," he looked at the owl and stroked her. She nibbled his thumb and then waited for him to open a window which he did. She took flight immediately and he watched her, the sun shining brightly on his face.

"As does Bantu," Mariah said, looking at her feet where the cat was walking around her ankles, begging to be petted. "Your professor was very prompt. He delivered Bantu and luggage with my clothing in it before I woke this morning." She glanced up. "There is also a trunk that has a label on it that says Hogwarts, H.P. You know Harry, I keep hoping that one of you will tell me I'm having a dream. But you won't will you?"

Harry turned from the window. He saw her sit on the sofa, her black cat jumping up beside her. The cat was watching him with deep green eyes. "No," he answered. He kept himself from saying 'I'm sorry' again. It had gotten tiresome.

She nodded, "Are you a prisoner here too, Harry?"

"Mariah, strictly speaking we are not prisoners," he sat down at the other end and watched her.

"No. Strictly speaking, of course not," she said and nodded, sadly. "On the other hand…" She stood and reached out her hand, "Come on. Let's see if we can find something to eat and then go exploring this house. I take it you didn't find a music room or you were as tired as I was last night. So we'll do it today. I think it wise to take your professor's advice and not wander alone. I didn't like the look of that fellow I saw last night. The one you call a house elf. He looks like a large, over-grown rat to me."

He got up and avoided taking her offered hand. Harry had forgotten about Kreacher.

_Rat. Yes, you could say that_, he thought. _One that is not going to live very long._

He remembered what Dumbledore told him about Kreacher; how he had lied to everyone, hurt Buckbeak and sent Sirius to his death. Harry thought about Dumbledore's words. He was for showing kindness towards Kreacher. Harry gritted his teeth. _Not likely! _he decided.

"Can you do magic like your professor?" she asked picking up two tea cups.

"Strictly speaking we're not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts," Harry answered and saw the skepticism on her face.

"Ahuh," she said and turned to the stove. "Strictly speaking again is it?" There was no means to light the stove; no matches, nothing because it was always lit by magic.

Harry knew by the tone of her voice that she was still harboring doubts about him and where she was. He stepped over and pulled out his wand and touched the stove. _What the heck,_ he thought. _Let them put me in Azkaban._

----------------------------

Hermione arrived late in the afternoon. Harry and Mariah were up three floors and in a long open attic that covered the entire upper floor of the house. It was filled with furniture and other items. Harry, long since educated and wary of anything that belonged to the Blacks, kept her from touching anything.

They talked and Harry told her about his years at the Dursleys, his admission to Hogwarts and answered her inquiries about Tom Riddle. She sat in the light of a dusty attic window with her bare feet swinging from a crate and listened. He found that the story poured from his heart. It was like having Sirius back again, without the temperamental ness. Mariah was tender and gentle and a good listener.

He told her about his first time at Hogwarts, about fighting Voldemort for the first time and the Triwizard tournament and Cedric Diggory's death.

She laughed when she heard about Quidditch and applauded him, there were tears for Cedric Diggory and she expressed amazement when he told her about fighting a dragon. "A dragon!" she whispered in awe. "Adults in this world let young men fight dragons…and evil sorcerers?"

He tried to explain without telling her everything. She nodded and looked at him with wide eyes.

"My goodness Harry," she exclaimed, "how brave you are and how strange all of this is. Why this is just amazing. I could swear I have stepped into a fairy tale. Please tell me more."

He commented on it, "You know, I haven't talked this much since…well ever." He picked up a book, glanced at the dusty cover and immediately set it aside.

"You've needed to talk," she said quietly. "I sense that. There is something more that you need as well Harry and that I can't figure out." She was pulling at her hair and glancing through the window. Suddenly, she jumped and stood up peering through the pane. She wiped it with her hand and then giggled nervously. "There's a…a three tiered, purple bus that just pulled up in front of the house. Are we expecting company?"

Harry smiled and stood, "Come on. It's Hermione. I asked her to come. You'll like her. But she won't be happy about having had to ride the Knight bus." This time he took her hand and they descended the numerous stairways together. Harry was reminded of Hogwarts as they moved from one staircase to another. It had taken him some time to memorize where the stairs were at Hogwarts and anticipate where they would be next. Here in the Black House, some stairs ended at blank walls and others climbed into the ceiling with no visible openings. Mariah laughed at the crazy structure.

"I don't think I could ever get used to this house Harry," she said as they found the stairway to the front entrance. "There are rooms here that have a dozen doors and some that have a dozen windows that look onto other rooms." He glanced at her with a worried face. "I did a little exploring before you woke up this morning."

The front door opened and Mrs. Black set off howling. Harry leaned over, "Don't go anywhere here alone Mariah. This was once the household of my godfather Sirius' family, the Blacks. They were dark wizards. Very dark!" he said over the cacophony of noise.

They hurried down the stairs.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted and ran to him, giving him a huge hug. "I was so worried about you. Then I got your letter." The noise was drowning them out. Hermione nodded shyly at Mariah and then with Harry's help pulled the curtains over Mrs. Black's face.

"What are we gonna do?" Harry shouted back. "We can't shut her up!"

At that moment, Snape opened the door stepped in and walked over to the picture. He pulled back the curtain and pointed his wand at the picture of the screaming woman. Mrs. Black was livid with rage, her eyes bugging and her hands arched out as if to scratch his eyes from his head. He spoke very calmly, "SILENCIO!" and slammed the curtains shut again.

They all stared at him. Mariah most of all. He had returned to his black clothing and long black hair, although it was clean and was staring at them as if they were in his classroom.

"I would take it upon myself, if I were you, to not agitate her again, particularly if you cannot control her," he whispered. "Shall we go to the next room?" The eyebrows arched and Harry and Hermione scampered down the hall. Harry looked back to see Mariah descend the last stair and stare up into his face. She was smiling warmly at him and he was returning her look with a smile.

Harry shook his head and joined Hermione. They talked in hurried whispers before Snape and Mariah entered. "I just met her, you know. Then he followed me and got us out just in time. My scar was hurting and I knew Voldemort was coming," Harry was filling in the blank spots of his letter.

"Harry," her eyes studied his face. "You didn't write to any of us. It scared me to death! I've sent at least a dozen letters to Dumbledore and to Remus, Ron is frantic and driving his father and mother into insanity. Have you written him yet?" She hadn't let go of his hand and before he knew it tears welled up in her eyes. "No, you haven't have you?"

"Hermione, you've got to understand." He felt nervous seeing the tears. Snape and Mariah entered the room and he stopped. This was the moment he dreaded, when he would have to see his potion master's face in the light of day after their experience during Mariah's vision the night before.

Surprisingly, the man's face was unreadable and his remarks were uncharacteristic, "I have talked to the acting minister and explained that we have a special guest. You will be allowed to use magic for every day activities." He was speaking and looking at Hermione and Harry. "Please keep it to a minimum; for essentials, cooking and cleaning. I will be gone for a short time, a few days."

"Who's the acting Minister, Professor," Hermione asked in surprise. Harry wondered too. He didn't think Snape would tell just anyone that he had brought a muggle to the wizarding world.

"It is Albus Dumbledore," Snape said quickly. "Now I have to come to see if you have everything you need and then I will go. Potter," his voice was calm and matter-of-fact, "please be careful about exploring this house with Mariah." He turned to her and his face softened perceptibly, "This house needs a thorough cleaning, but it must be done by one of us. I'm sure Miss Granger and Mr. Potter can help you with anything that you might need. It would be wise not to touch anything."

She was looking at him and nodded slightly, "Severus, I won't tell you that I am not angry and a little frightened. I can live with that for a short time. What I won't live with is staying in this house for long. I expect that you will honor my request for information and that you will return soon."

He bowed slightly and said, "Mariah, I understand your request. I will make it a priority. In the meantime, I have something I wish to show you. Please follow me." He turned and left the room and they followed. Bantu was on his heels as if he were the cat's master instead of Mariah.

He led them down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. There were double oak doors that Harry had not seen before. They had been so busy that exploring the house had not been important.

"Harry have you ever been up here?" Hermione asked, looking down the long hallway that led away from the doors.

He shook his head.

Snape touched the doors with his wand and said ALOHOMORA. The doors opened wide. They all stood in the entrance and gasped. The door led to a conservatory with a tall double-story arched ceiling. It held full grown trees, park benches and flower beds loaded with roses!

Harry watched as Mariah and Hermione strolled in, gasping and oohing and ahhing. The greenhouse-conservatory smelled like a flower shop and the sun brightly illuminated the whole room. It was a cheerful, welcoming place.

Harry turned to Snape whose face had not changed. There was, however, a glint in his eye that Harry had never seen before. Snape returned the look and raised an eyebrow. It was all Harry could do to not grin.

"Step outside with me Potter," Snape said under his breath.

Harry followed him to the hallway.

"You must watch her very carefully. This is not a safe house," He began still watching her as he spoke. "I cannot find Kreacher and it is likely that he has told Narcissa Malfoy that she is here."

"Where are you going Professor?" Harry asked in a whisper.

Snape turned to stare at him. "I think it wise to find her people."

"Professor, I…" Harry began and was interrupted.

"Just watch her, Potter," he said glaring at him. The old Snape was back. "Wasn't last night enough to convince you that she has natural magic. She is not a witch and yet she is not a squib either. This house amplifies what she is and her curiosity will put her at risk. Ordinary objects in her world are dangerous in ours. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded and felt himself grow angry once again. _Oh yes, I understand, _Harry thought. _You don't like what happened last night and the fact that I saw it._

"What happens," Harry said through gritted teeth, "if somehow, You-Know-Who finds me and comes back?"

Snape stared at him and was about to speak when he saw Hermione coming their way. He hissed through his teeth, "Just don't let Mariah touch you if it happens. The house should be protected well enough to prevent it."

"Professor. Harry," Hermione stepped forward and spoke quietly, "I think you should know that Mariah is aware that she is a bird in a gilded cage."

Snape frowned and said, "A what? Bird in a…."

Hermione nodded and shrugged, "It's a muggle expression. She knows that you are doing all of this to placate her. It was very…nice of you to think of doing it for her Professor, but it won't keep her happy. She knows that she is being kept here, a virtual prisoner."

She saw him start to speak, and said quickly, "Yes…yes, I know it can't be helped. And, SHE knows that she is here because it's safe, but it doesn't make it any easier for her. And…" She frowned and stepped forward one more step, bending her head to speak. Snape and Harry had to bend over to hear her. "I think you should know that she is having conversations with dead people, too. Some of the Blacks that are still hanging around here evidently." Hermione glanced surreptitiously at Harry. "She says Sirius is talking to her." Snape looked at her strangely. "It's not uncommon. Some muggles are said to be mediums in the muggle world. They talk to the dead, and so on." Hermione nodded when she saw the expression on Snape's face. "Who's to say that she isn't? She is a mystery to us as much as we are to her."

"As I said, Potter, she must be watched carefully," Snape countered and looked in Mariah's direction. "I will speak to her."

"You might want to consider having the Weasleys come," Hermione added before he moved away. He glanced down at her in horror. and she continued, "Well, Mr. Weasley is involved with muggles and Mrs. Weasley would certainly be a comfort. The more of us there are, the more there are to watch her." Hermione suggested. Snape dropped his head once in acknowledgement and turned and walked to the woman sitting on a bench at the far end of the room.

"She hears dead people talking to her?" Harry said.

Hermione nodded solemnly. "I think you need to tell me what happened last night, too. She told me that she thought she'd been caught in a dream. It sounded awfully like she saw your mother and father and some other people."

Harry nodded slowly and looked across the room. He was surprised that she was aware of the vision. She didn't appear to be when she awoke from it. He watched and listened to the woman who was such an enigma.

"Severus, I am delighted," Mariah walked over and took his arm and stood on tiptoe to pull him down enough to kiss him on the cheek. Harry could see a faint blush on the pale man's face.

Hermione was standing beside him watching. She whispered, "There's something else."

Harry looked down at her and dared to ask, "What?"

Hermione studied him with her brown eyes and squeezed his arm tightly, and said, "She thinks that she's being possessed by Voldemort!"

Harry looked at her, gulped and turned to the conservatory. He watched Snape sit on the bench and talked to the woman. _What have I done? _he thought in horror.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6 Lily's Mystery

Hermione held him tightly by the arm and looked at him with sympathy. They both turned and watched Snape and Mariah. The woman was reaching up to touch Snape's cheek and the observers could see a light in her face. He caught her hand and said something to her, which made her drop her head.

Harry heard Hermione gasp beside him and he turned to look down at her.

"She likes him," she said in surprise, "and he just turned her down! What a git!"

Harry looked back and frowned. _Mariah likes him? _he repeated to himselfHe turned that over in his mind and was shaking his head slowly when the front door alarm went off. Mrs. Black was raging again in the hallway below.

Mariah and Snape met them at the entrance to the conservatory and followed them down the stairs.

Lupin was standing at the bottom of the stairs shaking rain out of his cloak and frowning at the portrait. He used the same incantation that Snape used earlier and turned just in time to see them coming down the stairs. He smiled at Harry and Hermione and then nodded to Snape and Mariah as they met him on the main floor. Together, as a group, they moved silently down the hall to the sitting room.

Harry was the first to put out his hand to shake Remus'.

"Nonsense!" Remus said. He pulled Harry into a manly hug and smiled at him, looking carefully into his face. This was the first time that they had seen each other since Harry left him on the Platform 9 and 3/4's at the train station. "You alright?" he asked.

Harry nodded and replied, "Fine."

Remus gave Hermione a quick hug and said, "I imagine you've already told him off for not writing to us?" She nodded quickly and smiled at him. He turned to Snape who looked at him grimly.

"Well, I see that you are now in good hands, so I will be leaving you," Snape said, coolly.

Mariah glanced at him and then stepped forward and was about to put her hand out to introduce herself to Lupin when her head dropped to her chest and she let out a moan.

They all stood in stunned silence, watching her. She suddenly took on a different appearance. Her hair darkened and when her eyes came up they were dark as well. The voice that came out of her mouth was oddly familiar. "Don't worry about this old dog Mariah. His bite is actually worse than his bark!" The laugh that followed sounded like a bark. Lupin stood with his hand extended, a look of shock on his face.

Harry gulped nervously and Hermione had her hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. Mariah grabbed Lupin's hand, pulled him to her and gave him a rough hug. She let him go and looked around, "So what are you all looking at?" she said in her Sirius' voice. "I might be dead but it doesn't mean you have to be rude. Harry!" She stepped over to him and patted him hard on the back. "You should have seen the look on your face when I fell through that veil. Priceless!"

They were all looking at Mariah transformed into a very convincing resemblance of Sirius. Snape was the first to recover. He stepped around her so that he could speak to her directly and it was the first time Sirius saw him.

"What are you doing here Snape?!" The angry, needling voice was there and Harry watched the exchange in astonishment. It definitely was Sirius.

"If it is you Sirius, why are you here?" Snape asked, calmly.

Mariah's face curled into a an ugly frown and she said dryly, "Well, Lily wants to talk to Harry and she can't come through. I'm not going to let her either, not while you are here." The voice was peevish.

Harry stepped forward and looked into her face. "What is it Sirius? What does she need to tell me?"

"It's rather strange here, Harry," he said, obviously forgetting his mission. "I saw this window open and something looked familiar. When I looked through I saw you and I just sort of stepped in. There are others here and they are curious, some want to come through and I don't even know them."

"Sirius," Harry reached for Mariah's hand. "My mother…" He didn't finish.

The woman's face began to transform again. The dark eyes lightened and turned green and the hair that hung to her waist, tied back by a scarf was no longer the coffee brown but a warm chestnut with gold and red highlights.

The eyes looked squarely at Harry and then roamed the room to light on Lupin and then Snape. She turned back to him, "Harry, you look so much like your father when he was young." She held his hand and Harry grasped it with both of his.

"Mother?" he said urgently. Her eyes once again moved past him. She had a small frown on her face. "Remus why you look so tired. We miss you terribly you know. And…and Severus!" The eyes widened in surprise. "My goodness. You are both here together! Does that mean you have forgiven each other? That…that is wonderful!…." Mariah's head dropped.

"Mother? Mother?" Harry bent to look into her face. He dropped her hand and stepped back looking at her in horror when she raised her head. The eyes were slits and a putrid yellow color. Her hair seemed pulled back away from her forehead and her face was a ghastly shade of pale.

"Hello, Harreeee," the voice said. Harry knew it, had heard it not more than a month before in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic. It was Voldemort. "I am coming for you Harreeee, heheeeeee!" The laugh was that of a madman.

Snape reached for his wand stepped behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, "STUPIFY", he said. He caught her as she fell, lifting her and laying her gently on the couch.

Lupin stood over the back of the couch and looked at the stunned woman and then at Harry and Mariah. "Good grief what just happened?!"

Snape was on one knee checking her and looked up. "This is Mariah Lavinsky. She is a muggle…and a gypsy." He looked at her once and stood, talking to Remus. "I think I best finish my errand as quickly as possible."

Lupin looked down at the woman again and frowned. "A gypsy!" The tone in his voice made Harry glance at him sharply. He was still in such shock from having seen Sirius and his mother that he could not find any words. Hermione was the same. She moved around the edge of the couch and sat by Mariah's side.

"Severus, I don't understand what just happened," Lupin turned to Snape stopping him at the door.

Hermione answered him, "Some muggles have the gift of speaking to the dead. She is a natural Medium. But obviously it is a much stronger force here then when she is in the muggle world." They all stared at her.

Snape nodded and said, "That is why I am going to look for some of her people, Lupin. She is a disaster waiting to happen if she cannot control this."

Lupin gawked at him. "You're going to look for gypsies?" he gasped. Hermione frowned at him.

Harry shook his head, and said hurriedly, "Wait, wait. It might be important to help her learn how to protect herself, I agree with that. But we need to help her let them through. What were they trying to tell us? There was something they were trying to say... something my mother was trying to tell me. Shouldn't we help let them through again?" He felt awkward, even selfish in saying it. He'd caught a glimpse of Sirius, and had wanted, in that moment, to talk to him, to have a few last words with him; something he had agonized over in the past month because Sirius had been beyond his reach. Now it was within his reach; a chance to speak to him. And then, there was his mother, speaking to him, recognizing him; the night before and now.

Snape was glaring at him as if he were a nasty bug that he wanted to squash. Lupin was looking at him in shock and Hermione was frowning and appeared to be thinking very hard.

"We cannot let her…let them through," Snape said, exasperated. "You saw what happened Potter. She will lead HIM right to us and to you."

"Well we can't very well keep her in this condition?" Harry said, feeling for the first time angry with Lupin and Snape. "Can't you do something?" he asked both of them.

Snape turned to leave. "Yes, I can find one of her people and you are all keeping me from it." He started to leave the room and turned back to them again. "Lupin do what you can and I will be back as soon as possible. Miss Granger, I will leave it in your hands to explain to her what just happened. She might be able to exert some control."

Hermione, not expecting to be addressed, jerked her head up and nodded immediately. Lupin stared after the disappearing man and then turned to them. He had a puzzled expression on his face. "Perhaps you should fill me in," he said.

-----------------------

They sat in the kitchen while Hermione cooked dinner. Mariah was asleep upstairs and their moods were as gloomy as the foggy rain-soaked streets outside. Harry told them about the prophecy, about his feelings of guilt for Sirius' death and having found Mariah. He talked about their narrow escape and returning to #12 Grimmauld Place.

Harry thought he didn't have the right to speak in detail of Mariah's vision and how he and Snape had played such an intimate part in it. He told them about the exchange between Henry Potter and Brutus Potter at graduation, something Lupin already would know about.

When he did Remus got to his feet and restlessly paced the kitchen. He began to shoot questions at Harry. "Did you see what happened later," he queried.

Harry nodded and glanced over at Hermione who was watching him from the stove. He hesitated and then said, "Up to the point of the duel. My mother visited Snape in one of the Slytherin tents. After that I don't know what happened. Do you, Remus?"

Hermione abandoned her stove and sat down at the table watching both of them. Remus walked around the room and touched various items as if he were considering what he wanted to say. He stopped and looked at them.

"You know I never thought I'd be the one who would have to tell this tale. Not in a lifetime would I have dreamed it."

Harry studied his face and waited. He knew that if the man were going to tell them anything it would be at his own pace.

Remus sat and produced his wand. He swirled it and created three identical steaming mugs of tea. "This will take some time," he said smiling wanly. "Let's eat some of Hermione's dinner and we will talk."

They ate in silence and then they sat, with dirty crockery around them, while Remus folded his hands and looked at Harry.

"I want you to know that I was on the verge of doing just exactly what Sirius had already done that day. I wanted to kill Brutus Snape and wipe that ugly look off his face. You need to know that we all loved your mother," he glanced at him and Harry nodded. In his heart he had always known it. Remus continued, "It was hard not to. She was a wonderful person. And to see that madman belittle her and insult her... Well it was almost more than I could stand." He shook his head and gripped his empty teacup.

"You have to know that I am no historian and can only tell you what it was like for us. We were just a year older than you are now and the world looks different at that age. I think we weren't as frightened as we should have been. The world was hanging by a thread and we didn't even know it," his voice trembled with emotion. "It was our graduation day. It was beautiful. We were friends. How could that be spoiled? I just want you to understand in case you believe we were naive; because there's no doubt about it-we were."

Remus shook his head slightly and stared across the room. "People who were sympathetic to half-bloods- sorry," Remus said, glancing over at Hermione with an apologetic smile. She waved her hand absently at the remark and he continued, "were outnumbered 20-to-one by the purebloods and those who supported them. Sirius' remarks that day, spoken so rashly in front of Brutus Snape, and his actions, set off a chain of events that were horrible." Remus wiped a hand over his mouth. "Although, it's a little harsh to blame it all on him." Lupin waved his own hand as if to wipe out the words.

"That day we suffered through the rest of the afternoon and thought of nothing but the duel that was to take place that evening. Sirius acted as if it was nothing. James was furious with him for not be able to control himself. James had been around his father, around Henry, and had heard enough from him to know that Brutus Snape should have been avoided at all costs.

Henry Potter was working with Dumbledore and others in forming The Order of the Phoenix. The original concept was to be sort of a way station for half-bloods, to help them assimilate and cross into the wizarding world. Of course, the primary means to do that was through the children, to allow more and more half-bloods and muggle-born to go to Hogwarts and then enter our world that way. Tom Riddle did that," Remus said and looked at both of them. "He was half-blood and an orphan. The purebloods were dying out and everyone knew it; it was just that no one talked about it. It was a very delicate topic to say the least. Dumbledore wanted to allow half-bloods and muggle-born and the purebloods didn't. "

He continued, "An article came out in the Daily Prophet that had a disastrous effect. It was a rather benign article. It just stated that the pureblood population was declining and that there would come a time when the mixed bloods would dominate. That was the word that was used and I'll never forget it." Remus shook his head slightly. "It set off a storm. People like Brutus Snape and Victor Malfoy and Hector Black, that was Sirius' father, became consumed with the desire to stop it at all costs. People took sides."

"Professor?" Hermione stopped him.

"Oh Hermione, please call me Remus," he said smiling at her. "It is the least I can do for having such an excellent dinner."

She smiled back and then rubbed the table searching for the words. "Remus, how did Tom Riddle ever get to be such a…an evil wizard?"

Lupin frowned and rubbed his jaw again. "I think that the pureblood families were looking for a person to do their dirty work. What better than to use someone they held in contempt. He was a 'mud blood' to them. You and I both know what that can feel like. Although, I am pureblood. But because of my…condition…well let's just say I certainly know what it's like to be on the fringes of society."

"If they felt that way Remus, how did he get so powerful? The aren't in control of him anymore, if they ever were?" Harry asked.

Remus stared at him as if looking through him and then answered abruptly, "He did their dirty work and in return they owed him a favor."

"Dir…dirty work?" Hermione asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"He killed people for them," Remus said. "Henry and Liz Potter, my parents, and many others. He did it over time so that it didn't look like an all out attack. He killed those that opposed the purebloods." Remus stood as if it was too difficult to sit in one place. "Victor Malfoy was in the Ministry. They cooked up charges of conspiracy and other things so that people could be investigated and spied on and Victor had a horrendous amount of money. Hector Black was another one. People like Brutus Snape were considered a sort of aristocracy. Didn't you ever wonder where your grandparents were Harry?"

Harry nodded and remained silent. He'd wondered a lot about everything. But there had never been anyone to ask, to explain what he had not known about until now. He watched as the man made another circuit of the room.

"That happened after that night," Remus said. "It started with that and everythingwent to pieces after. In answer to your question Harry, I think Tom Riddle got tired of being treated as second-rate. He'd been taught the Dark Arts by some of the best-Malfoy was one of them- and I think he turned on them. By that night he was becoming the most powerful wizard of our age."

Remus stopped in the middle of the room and they waited. With a swipe of his hands the lanterns were lit and the room brightened. Harry could see the strain in his face. His eyes were bright and they dropped to Harry.

"I don't know what happened in that tent that night, but I know what happened after. They were found there; your mother and Severus. Brutus Snape was enraged at his son's betrayal. Unfortunately, his friends were there; the Malfoy's and others. they were there to watch the duel. Hector Black was even there, as was Regulus Black. Did you know about Reggie?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded and answered, "A little. Sirius showed me the tapestry, the one with the family on it. He said Regulus was killed by Vol…by HIM. He said he had once sided with the purebloods."

Remus nodded. "Reggie was Sirius' older brother and Hector's favorite." He shook his head and continued, "There was a commotion. We all went to find out what was going on. Lily was standing there and Severus was standing in front of her, protecting her. Brutus was screaming for him to get out of the way. It was clear that he meant to kill her. he probably would have done his own son after."

Harry felt sweat break out on his forehead as he recreated the scene in his head. Saw his mother facing the man with the cruel, angry eyes.

"Tom Riddle showed up just then. He shot his famous mark into the sky, a brilliant green death's head. He walked into that circle at that very moment. It looked like war was going to break out right on the grounds of Hogwarts." Lupin wiped both hands over his face. "These were very powerful men and what they thought your mother and Severus were doing was just about to trigger it off. I have to give your father credit, Harry. He trusted your mother and knew of her friendship to Severus. I could tell Sirius thought she had betrayed James. I…I have to admit I was jealous and angry with her."

Remus made another circuit and wiped his hand along the table and he continued his tale,

"Wands came up. Henry pointed his at Brutus, Sirius was pointing his at his own brother, Reggie, who was standing there beside Tom Riddle. Victor Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy were also standing next to him. There were others and it was clear they were showing their support. It was also clear that we were outnumbered. I think Riddle would have enjoyed starting a fight right there, but Dumbledore stepped in. The only person Tom Riddle ever backed down from was Dumbledore," Remus said. "Dumbledore ordered everyone to leave. He stopped it."

Hermione voice shattered the long silence that followed. "What happened then?" she asked.

"Lily and Sirius disappeared for awhile and no one could find them. We thought they had been kidnapped and later Snape was found near death with the black mark on his arm."

"My mother disappeared?" Harry gasped, "and Sirius?" That sounded ominous.

"They returned by morning and wouldn't say where they had been," Remus replied, looking unhappy.

"Is that what they're trying to tell me?" Harry asked standing for the first time. "Does my mother want me to know what happened? "

They both turned to stare at Hermione.

"What?" she asked startled. "You're asking me? Why should I know?" They remained silent and she growled, "Am I the expert on muggle mediums or something?" They both nodded. "Humpf! I'm not!" she said glaring back at them and she finally said, "We can ask Mariah. She probably knows something that we don't."

"She's a gypsy," Remus said looking alarmed.

"What is this about gypsies, Remus?" Harry asked, feeling angry. "I can't see that they are any different then anyone else. They have a few customs that are different but other then that..."

Lupin looked at him and dropped his head and leaned one hand against a chair. "I suppose I was remiss in not talking about them when I was teaching your class." He looked up. "They are some of the most revered people in our world. It is said that all of our magic, that the purebloods, come from the gypsy. They call themselves Roma and their language is Romani. I have never met any of them because they tend to shy away from normal wizards and witches. I have to tell you both though, that I would feel very nervous about meeting any." Lupin smiled anxiously. "I just hope Severus survives his encounter. In the last century or so they have not looked kindly at us."

Hermione and Harry looked at one another and back at their ex-teacher. Harry knew that Hermione was probably thinking the same thing. Lupin had been their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and hadn't appeared to be afraid of anything and here he was telling him that gypsies made him nervous.

He smiled at them and said, "Sorry, if I have disillusioned you."

"Let's see if our muggle gypsy is awake," Hermione said with some disdain. "Do you think it'll take all three of us to fetch her for dinner or should I go it alone?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 The Gypsies

Hermione re-introduced Mariah to Lupin while Harry served her dinner.

"So you are the professor and friend that Harry has talked so much about," Mariah said. She had a curious look on her face. "Harry has told me that…that you are a werewolf," she laughed nervously. "I guess there is a great deal of diversity in this world and…and I am glad to see such sophistication and cultural acceptance. It certainly doesn't happen often in the mug…muggle world." She reached out a hand and shook his. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he withdrew it and smiled at her.

"I'm not sure that's true Madam Lavinsky," he said. "I think, sadly, we have our own set of social problems. However, I am pleased to meet you. However, I would be offended if you didn't call me Remus."

"And I would also be offended if you did not call me, Mariah," she said and smiled warmly at him.

Harry noticed the effect that she appeared to have on Lupin, similar to the effect she had on Severus. He smiled and blushed to the roots of his brown hair. It made him look, for just an instant, years younger.

"Mariah?" Hermione interrupted. She returned from the hallway with a serious look on her face. "Can you tell me why you were talking to Mrs. Black's portrait?"

Harry stopped midway through his sip of tea and almost choked. Lupin stared at Hermione and then turned to Mariah who was eating heartily. She answered, "Was I? I don't remember. Just as I don't remember anything since I… well since this afternoon." She studied her plate and frowned trying to remember.

"Mariah," Hermione began very gently. "I think that we need to discuss something with you." She proceeded to explain how Mariah had been having what appeared to be trances where people, people that were dead, and some not so dead, were coming through her to speak to all of them.

Mariah sat listening as she always did and nodded slowly. She looked around the table and set her fork down on her half- eaten dinner. "Really? Well I can't say that I'm all that surprised. When I was working," she looked up at them, "when I played the gypsy fortune-teller, there were times when I would do a séance and I'd feel strange. My customers would say that I went into a trance and their loved one would come through and talk to them."

She glanced down at her plate and flushed, "I embellished that after awhile and added to it but I never truly believed them. I thought they were just…just so desperate that they made it up." Mariah glanced at Harry and smiled weakly. "That doesn't make me a very nice person, but it earned a living for me. I truly believe that people need someone like me, someone to give them hope and it didn't seem to harm anybody. It was a bit of showmanship, if you know what I mean."

She folded her arms on the table and continued, "Since coming here I have grown suspicious that I do have some supernatural powers and that they are stronger here." She waited and looked from one person to another. "Some of these visions feel like dreams. They seem so vivid. Then there are other times when it feels like my mind takes a back seat and someone takes over and I can't speak; I have no control over myself."

Hermione nodded and said gently, "Yes, your suspicions are true. We- wizards and witches in this world-don't know much about muggle mediumship. It really isn't something that is practiced here. Mariah we've gotten some troublesome, disturbing news through you; plus we aren't exactly sure how best to help you… control this..." she didn't finish.

"Or protect you," Remus added.

Harry nodded in agreement. He had so many conflicting feelings that he wasn't sure what to say to her and each time she looked his way all he could do was give her a sympathetic smile. He still felt horribly guilty for having involved her in their escape, but knew that she would surely have been killed if he had left her behind. Now, she was in their world which seemed to be having an effect on her natural skills. It was also clear that Voldemort had 'dropped' in, along with his mother and Sirius.

Harry desperately wanted another contact with his mother and Sirius. He looked at Mariah guiltily and wondered if her remark about being desperate applied to him. He liked her terribly and the last thing he wanted was to use her.

"Do you remember anything at all about talking to Mrs. Black's portrait?" Hermione asked. They had all forgotten her question for a moment until she brought it up again.

Mariah shook her head and said, "I really don't Hermione. You'd think I would remember something though. It's bad enough that portraits actually talk here, but that one in particular is simply terrible!"

Remus nodded, and said, "I'll try and make it a point while I'm here to try and get it down. Our concern is that Mrs. Black would speak to you at all, since you're a mug…gle," he stammered.

"I might have to take back what I said about social acceptance, if you keep calling me that," she said, carefully. "It seems muggles aren't well liked here." She shook her mane of brown hair and picked up her fork. "But since I can't remember, I'm no use to you there. Is it significant? By the way, can you tell me when Severus will be back?"

Lupin, Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. Hermione answered, "He's actually gone to find some gypsies; some of your people."

She jerked her head up. "Why? By the way, gypsies call themselves Roma, Hermione. I doubt that it is different here." She said it with some anger in her voice and laid down her fork again. "Does he think that I can't take care of myself or what? I don't need a babysitter!" Her brown eyes grew wide. "I understand that it'll take some adjustment and that I can't depend on him or Harry here or any of you forever. But for heaven's sake I have only been here a day. Well, not even that!" This time she was flashing her dark eyes at them and was angry. "I think it fair to say that I've done a pretty fair job in adjusting."

It was Lupin's turn to speak to her. "Mariah, stop and listen, please." There was a pleading urgency in his voice. "Harry and Hermione don't understand this so I will try and explain it to all of you. Will you listen?" he asked her, his voice was gentle as always and Harry watched Mariah.

"Yes. Speak. I will listen," she said. Her natural Hungarian accent was more pronounced when she was angry and he could tell she wasn't unaware of it..

Harry wanted to reach over and take her hand and try and console her. However, he was beginning to feel like it was an imperative; that he needed to touch her and regain that contact he lost. It beckoned and repelled him. _What if I took her hand and Voldemort came through again? How could I handle that? What would happen?_ he thought and decided to keep his hands on the table.

Lupin poured her some tea, warmed his and spoke quietly, "The Roma people here in our world are very, very powerful wizards and witches. In all the places I have traveled, and there have been many, I have never met one. They are an isolated, mysterious people. It's said that all of our magic originally came from them, although I don't know if that's true."

"Remus," Hermione interrupted. "In the book Hogwarts: A History, it confirms that. It says that the Roma were the first to use magic."

Harry glanced at her. He'd forgotten that she 'd read the book. Their very first day at Hogwarts, during the Sorting ceremony, she mentioned reading it. The whole idea seemed ghastly to him and he thought it might take him a lifetime to get through the whole thing, even if he wanted to.

Lupin nodded and said, "Never quite had the courage to read it myself, Hermione. Glad someone has though." He appeared amused for a moment and then somber as he continued, "Anyway Mariah, if you are a muggle- excuse the word- you have some gifts that are apparently accentuated here in this world. We are not sure how best to control them or how to help you learn to control them. If Severus is successful, he may find someone who might be better at helping you than us. I don't think he meant to farm you out; to abandon you."

Hermione added, "If Voldemort is coming through we need help to stop that, too."

Harry held his breath and Lupin shot a look at her. She shook her head at them, frowning and said angrily, "Well it's true. Both of you know it. He came through along with Mrs. Potter and Sirius. Mariah is a window to him and…and a channel to Harry. HE can find Harry here at the Black house and no one will be safe. I think he was here just minutes ago, talking through Mrs. Black's portrait!"

Harry exhaled because he found he was completely out of air and startled by her remark.

"You think so?" he stammered.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Harry. I'm sure Mrs. Black would be more than happy to aid him in ridding this house of the 'filthy-vermin scum'," Hermione said quoting directly. "Remus, please tell me that Dumbledore is still the secret-keeper for the Order and that the house is protected."

Harry jerked his head towards Lupin who returned their looks with one of concern. "I don't know Hermione. Perhaps that should be the first order of business. I have no idea if the Fidelius Charm works inside." He dropped his napkin on the table and stood. "I'll go talk to Albus and see. Stay here." He left the room and left Hermione and Harry looking at Mariah.

She looked back with alarm written on her face. "Maybe I should go somewhere else. If I'm aiding this dark wizard in finding you Harry, I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

Harry stared at the huge tears that were forming in her eyes and felt astonishment. He knew her to be a compassionate and caring person, but as he looked at her, he saw another person behind the eyes, another woman whose heart was just as warm and just as compassionate. He wanted desperately to reach over. _Mother? _he asked silently with all of his heart.

"On the other hand, Mariah," Hermione said thoughtfully, unaware of Harry's reaction. "If Voldemort doesn't know the prophecy and is using you, we can take advantage of that. If you can learn to control it, we can give him false information or," she stopped and looked thoughtful, "or anything. You could be Harry's best weapon against the Dark Lord."

"I couldn't let her do that Hermione," were the first words Harry had spoken almost all evening. "It's bad enough that I involved Mariah. It was stupid for me to do it." He drew back and broke his connection with the hazel-brown eyes across from him. "Everyone around me is at risk and there's nothing I can do about. I've told you what it's like for me." He looked at Mariah and then at Hermione. "I couldn't ask anyone to do that for me."

Mariah quickly wiped at her tears and said, "Yes, you have told me Harry, but I make my own choices for my life. I think that's something you have to accept and live with. You need to stop taking responsibility for other people's choices. The same was true of your godfather. If he had survived and if he had been a man he would have said the same thing to you so that you wouldn't carry around all this guilt." She pushed her plate away ignoring his frown. "How do you think I can help Hermione?"

Hermione was staring at the table. She reached over picked up Harry's cup and handed it to Mariah. "What do you see?" she asked.

----------------------------------

Snape sat in Hagrid's hut and frowned at the half giant as he rustled around the small room. Hagrid was collecting a bag full of things and muttering to himself. Snape was not happy about being there but knew that to accomplish a goal he needed to do what had to be done.

"Well, Professor," Hagrid mumbled, "I'm glad to hear Harry is well. I worry about the lad as we all do." Hagrid cast a glance at the man sitting at his table for the first time. He wished he could ask the man more about their task, but saw the cold black eyes glittering in the fire light and knew he couldn't.

"Hagrid, we must move with all possible haste," Snape said again.

"I understand, Professor," Hagrid grunted. "You know these folk don' take kindly to intruders." He gathered his cloak and turned and nodded. "Ready then, Professor Snape, sir."

Snape was on his feet immediately, "I am aware of it, Hagrid."

Hagrid rolled his eyes when he thought Snape wasn't looking and opened the door, "There wouldn't be nothing' I wouldn't do for fer Harry perfessor, nothin. Jus' so's ya know it, these gypsies, they are good folks, real good." He shook his shaggy head and stepped through the door behind Snape. "But they don't like dark magic. Not'all. They would feed you to the dogs if they thought you 'as dark."

Snape turned on his heel and stared up at the man, glaring at him. "I will do this alone Hagrid if you don't feel up to it." Snape was angry . He wouldn't allow himself to show emotion to the half-giant. "I thought it would expedite my mission if you were to be my guide in the forest. However, I can do this alone if you choose not to guide me."

"No need, Professor, sir," Hagrid said kindly. "I was jus' commentin' was all."

Snape nodded once and stepped back off the path to let Hagrid pass.

The two made an odd picture as they moved under the late afternoon shadow of the trees, off the path and down the valley away from Hogwarts. Hagrid was whistling cheerily and Snape was gliding behind like a dark shadow.

The sun was setting earlier in the day and the sky was already a palette of oranges and yellows. The two walked through the evening, and only the sound of buzzing insects and their feet crunching on stones and branches made any noise in the forest.

Hagrid picked his route and they journeyed for a long distance on foot. Snape did not ask him why they couldn't apparate, or ride brooms or use another form of transportation. He was surprised that the man didn't talk at all even though he had attempted conversation that fell dully into a long uncomfortable silence.

They both heard the music long before there was any sign of humans present. They crested a hill and saw the last rays of the setting sun. The purple clover lined a dusty lane and in the distance fires twinkled like fireflies.

"There they are professor," Hagrid said quietly. "You was in luck to hav'em be so near this time o' year. They were doing their travelin' show and I happened on to 'em after you sent your owl telling me to look out for them." He stopped and looked down at the man dressed all in black. "They already know we're here," Hagrid finished.

Snape looked up at him with a questioning look.

"They are sharp. They have noses that are like a hounds and hearing like an fox," Hagrid said, uneasily. "They knew we were near when we were a mile away." He started towards the encampment and walked slowly, almost a meandering shuffle allowing for the smaller man to keep up. "There's things you should know Professor."

"What would that be Hagrid?" Snape asked.

"Don't pull yer wand out fer one. They use wandless magic and ken cut ya down in a 'eartbeat," Hagrid said. "Don' touch their women or look at them. They'd consider that impolite. The older men will do all the talkin'. Then they'll hafta think on things fer a spell and tell us what they want to do."

"Anything else, Hagrid?" Snape asked sourly and stopped in the middle of the road.

If someone had been looking on, they would have seen the huge bulk of a man facing a much smaller one, much like a cat might be looking down on a mouse. It was now twilight and only the sharpest eyes would have seen them and the sharpest ears would have heard the low grumbling of their conversation.

"Perhaps it's best if I speak first, Professor,' Hagrid said.

"Whatever you like," Snape snapped.

Hagrid nodded, not intimidated by the man's attitude and they proceeded.

Horses were grazing near the semi-circle of wagons before a blazing fire. As they drew near they could see people playing instruments, clapping, snapping fingers and dancing. The smell of cooking meat wafted towards them and children were playing under some the richly carved and decorated vardos; gypsy caravans. Women in long skirts with blouses tucked in, hair tied back in multicolored scarves bent over cooking fires.

Bright lanterns hung in the spreading branches of an oak tree gave off a welcoming light. They had not breached the circle of light before several figures stepped out in front of them. Hagrid stopped and Snape stood a foot behind.

"Saj zutiv tut? (Can I help you?)," one man asked. He was small, and about thirty. He wore a hat, a loose shirt and loose trousers tucked into boots. His hair fell to his shoulders beneath the broad-brimmed hat. Two more men, dressed similarly, stood behind him.

Hagrid bowed and said, "Ci hatjerav tut (I don't understand you). Me buchov O Hagrid (my name is Hagrid) and my friend is Snape. We don' t know yer language, but we come in peace and ask for your help."

The small man had to bend his head back almost to his shoulders to see Hagrid's face.

"You need our help?" he asked in a heavy accent. he looked slightly amused by the big man.

Hagrid nodded. He waved Snape forward. The group of men stared at him. One of the men stepped up and talked to the smaller one in a low voice over his shoulder.

"Va, come into the fire circle," the smaller man said, after a moment. "We will talk. I am Yuri Pasov," he said patting his chest and motioning them towards the bonfire. "Sar buchos? Sorry, what is your name again?" he asked, smiling broadly at them, "Ah yes, Hagrid and this dark one. You called him Snape. Come then."

"Najis tuke (thank you)," Hagrid said.

Yuri yelled joyfully into the circle of people, "Hurry and fetch a big tree stump. We have a visitor whose behind is very big!" He laughed and pounded Hagrid on his lower back, as far as the little man could reach. "Come and we will eat supper and you tell us how we help the little man and the big man."

Hagrid sat and looked at the circle of black eyes as they smoked their pipes and drank their cups of hot brewed tea. The women who worked or stood behind them also remained silent and the only noise was that of a whimpering infant or a young child's barking laugh.

Yuri sat with his hat pushed back off his forehead and fingered an empty pipe. He finally nodded. "We will talk and then we will give you our answer." He motioned for several of the men to leave the circle. They stood and left, walking into the night.

Hagrid accepted a bowl of tea and nodded to Snape. "Like I said, they like to think it over."

"I got that Hagrid," Snape growled. "How long do you think it will take?"

"Don't know," Hagrid answered.

The two men stared at the group who were talking quietly among themselves. They didn't have long to wait. Yuri returned.

"We will go together to meet this woman," he said sitting down at the fire again. "We have not met a muggle cousin. The truth of what you say will reveal itself in time, I think." He stared at Snape, "You have not spoken to us yet. Misfortunes affect everyone, my friend. We Rom know of this Kalo Beng (black devil), the one you call Voldemort." Yuri pointed his empty pipe stem at Snape. "Even among the Rom he has touched many lives. We hesitate to scratch where we do not itch and so have left this trouble to you and your kind. My friend you have a dark look about you."

Hagrid didn't look down at the Potion's Professor. He gripped the wooden bowl and hoped that the man had enough sense to say something that would ease the tension.

Snape stared steadily into Yuri's face and said in his deep baritone voice so that the entire camp could hear. "I have no allegiances to Voldemort, Yuri. I wear his mark," at that Snape pulled up his sleeve and showed them the mark on his arm, "but I wear it so that I may fool him into believing that I follow him. If I had the chance I would kill him and rid the world of his evil."

A voice, tremulous and reedy spoke from the dark, "Ne me dikh (let me see)." An old woman stepped into the light and yanked him around. Snape reared back a fraction of an inch as her fingers, with long gray nails, grabbed his chin and looked into his eyes. "O korro kaj phenel ke chudela barr pe tute, lesko pinro musaj vuze table barr."

Hagrid froze in horror and looked back and forth between Snape and Yuri.

Yuri nodded and said, "The old woman says; 'The man who threatens to stone you, must already be touching the stone."

Hagrid gulped, "What's that mean?"

The old woman let go of Snape and waved a hand towards the little man. He answered Hagrid's question, "It means that if someone makes a threat then he must feel sure he can carry it out." Yuri stood and slipped his pipe into his pocket. He grinned, flashing a row of shiny white perfect teeth. "Old Tara thinks you tell the truth." He referred to the old woman who had limped off to a wagon.

Yuri jumped to his feet and spoke to several men, "Kethanes dzastar (let's go together)." He started out of the camp circle. "You coming then?" he said and waved for them to join him.

-------------------------

Mariah accepted the cup from Hermione and tilted it into the light. She looked at Harry first who was looking at the cup in her hand.

"I won't do this if you don't want me to, Harry. I still don't believe that I will see anything anyway, but I'm getting more wary about it all."

"No," he answered. "go on." He swallowed hard and watched as her eyes dropped to the cup. Hermione was leaning over the table, partially standing, her elbows planted on the table.

Mariah gazed down at the soggy leaves left at the bottom of the china cup and turned it slowly in her hands. Then, she turned it upside down on the saucer and studied the wet leaves.

Harry remembered the day in Trelawney's classroom when they were studying divination with tea leaves. Trelawney readily forecast his death in everything from the crystal balls to the drippings of a candle and he hated it. Now, as he watched, he felt great anxiety. In fact, the hair was raised on his neck and he felt goose-flesh crawling up his arms.

Mariah studied it and shook her head. "Don't see anything at all Harry. Just a lot of old soggy tea leaves."

Hermione gasped and let out a choked laugh and Harry sat back and took a deep breath.

"It sort of looks like a big old black dog, but what would that mean?" Mariah said and sat the cup down. She looked up when Hermione gave out a little 'Oh' and looked with frightened eyes at Harry. He was looking at the mound of soggy leaves and then squeezing his eyes shut. _Not again_, he thought, _please not again!_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight The Place We Call Home

In the near dawn light a group of travelers and wagons move through the veil of mists gathering near them and that also shroud the trail that winds through the forest. They are shadows moving silently, as in a dream.

Near the front is a large man walking easily at the head of a team of horses that pull the bow-roofed wagons. Behind him, cloaked and silent, are men and women and children. The little troop disappear into the shadows of the dark forest. The birds that have woken twill happily in the new morning light then suddenly become silent as the travelers pass.

One traveler stops and listens and then moves on. Others in the group cluster near the wagons. They appear to be respectful as if in a church and bow their heads under the cathedral ceiling of branches. They seem to be listening to voices that the strangers among them cannot hear. They advance quickly moving over the ground silently. Even the deer in the forest look up, twitch their ears, stare about them, but do not see the party as they pass.

------------------

Harry spent the next day alone with Hermione and Mariah. Lupin was still visiting with Dumbledore and hadn't returned. Harry watched as the two women became acquainted. He lay on the sofa and half-listened.

When it was clear that Hermione was going to try and explain more things about the wizarding world to Mariah, he decided to wander through the house on his own. He felt the same way that Mariah felt, the house did feel like a prison. Although, he had been in it many times he still had never taken the time to explore it on his own.

Like so many things that were in this world, nothing was as it appeared at first glance. Hallways stretched on forever, doorways led to blank walls and rooms appeared out of nowhere. He strolled across a large room with many columns and statuary. The cobwebs draping the entrance and the inch-thick dust told him that it was a little used wing of the house. A grand staircase led to upper floors and there appeared to be two main rooms that led off the gallery. Both were shut off by tall double oak doors with brass knobs in the shape of dragon's heads.

Harry was trying to form a floor plan of the house in his mind so that he wouldn't get lost. There was a central section where they were now housed. That section had four floors. As he wandered he discovered that on each side of the main building there appeared to be extensive wings, both to the right and left and behind the central house. A bird's eye view would have shown the house to be in the shape of a unilateral cross.

Harry stepped across the floor, the accumulated dirt on the marble tiled floor softened his step, much like a carpet. He avoided looking at the statuary and the large portraits that hung on the wall and reached for the door handle and saw the dragons green eyes come alive. They snarled at him and shot off tiny jets of fire.

_Okay_, he thought, _obviously not welcome here_. He withdrew his hand.

He crossed to the other identical door and found that the doors opened on rusty hinges. Glancing in, he was surprised to find a room that easily covered the entire ground floor of that wing. _Probably was a ballroom,_ he thought to himself. The room had stain-glass windows reaching from floor to a gilded gold ceiling. Heavy velvet drapes covered in the gray-grime of years hung at each. Four large wedding-cake chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the walls were lined with large gilt-framed mirrors. The room was so large that the chairs that lined the walls looked as if they belonged in a dollhouse. Everything was covered in dust, mildew and cobwebs.

Harry stepped back and closed the doors. He looked up the massive staircase then back at the other set of doors. The brass dragon handles seemed to be quiet once again.

_Best not_, he thought and headed up the stairs. He avoided the lift that sat to the side of the stairs. It's door was covered by a black wrought-iron grill and opaque glass.

The top of the stairs separated into two different hallways. He turned right and walked down the gloomy dark hall, trying different doors. The rooms were mainly cloakrooms, linen closets and bedrooms that would have housed a large assembly of guests. At the end of the hall another set of stairs led to the third floor. Harry guessed that he would find the same thing on that floor; guest rooms.

He turned and started back and saw at the other end of the hallway, past the top of the stairs, a mirror. He saw his dusty reflection as he walked towards it as if beckoned to him. He stopped at the top of the stairs, looked down into the gallery and then moved on towards the mirror.

He touched a lamp here and there as he walked and said quietly, LUMOS. Even the warmth of the light did not seem to decrease the long shadows. He shivered involuntarily as he approached the mirror and studied himself in it.

_The Black House. it is so eerie here_, he thought. With every step he took he unwittingly gathered more information about Sirius and what his life must have been like growing up. It was obvious that his parents had been rich, exceptionally rich. Harry studied the heavy paneled hallway, the chairs and tables that lined it. He knew that every room would be the same. In another time the house must have been magnificent.

He started to turn and heard a rustling noise. It came from the mirror. He looked at it once more and saw, very dimly, figures moving in the hall. It didn't surprise him that ghosts resided in the house and these were similar to those that were in residence at Hogwarts. He saw women and men dressed in evening dress, ball gowns and men dressed in evening wear of another age and time.

It had been the rustle of the women's starched petticoats that had caught his attention. He guessed that it had been ages since there had been a human presence nearby to draw them from their shadowy world into his. They looked past him as he watched, moving in and out of rooms, gathering together; the ladies with their fans and powdered wigs.

He was about to make his way back through them and down the stairs when he heard another sound. This time he glanced back at the mirror. He saw a young boy of about ten looking back at him. Harry recognized the eyes, knew the face. It was Sirius.

"Sirius?" he whispered.

The boy looked up with liquid black eyes and a pale face. His hair was long, almost to his shoulders and he was dressed in very rich brocades and velvets. The child didn't seem to hear him. He looked down the hall and the shoulders slumped, his head dropped.

Harry immediately felt the sadness and despair that emanated from the small figure. He wanted to reach out and touch him. His hand was up, he had turned away and had just reached out to lay his hand on the glass when a noise startled him. He wasn't aware that his hand had passed through the glass.

Meow!

Harry jumped and unconsciously withdrew his wand. He stared down at his feet. Bantu was looking up at him with her green eyes. The sound had come from her.

"You scared me, Bantu," Harry said. "Why aren't you with Mariah?"

"She is," came the answer.

Harry looked into the mirror and saw Mariah behind him.

"It's spooky up here Harry," she said pulling a shawl around her shoulders. "Hermione said she would make lunch and I came to find you." She studied the mirror. "I'll be glad when I get used to this. Everywhere I go I get these feelings and it sounds like people talking in my head."

She stepped up beside him. He studied her and kept silent.

"It's alright Harry," she whispered and put arm around his shoulders. "I can feel the longing in your heart. I know that when you look at me it's not my face that you see. I wish I could help you but I feel so lost here and its just creepy to think that dead people are speaking through me. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "It's not fair of me to want it, but I would like to see my mother again. I think that there's something important that she's trying to tell me. Sirius, too." He glanced at the mirror. "For a minute there I thought I saw him."

"Can you see ghosts?" she asked, looking around.

He smiled, "Yeah, we can actually. Don't get nervous, but the hallway is full of them." He noticed her face grow pale. "They don't seem to know that we're here."

She looked back down the hall and took his hand drawing closer. "Okay. That's good." She swallowed hard and looked at him. "My people don't like ghosts. They think that people can be possessed by the dead." She smiled wanly. "I guess they'd be pretty disgusted with me, because that's exactly what is happening isn't it?"

Harry nodded slowly, "But that's not something that happens everyday Mariah. That's why I think we need to take advantage of it while we can. I think Hermione was right, I think you can help. I can't defeat Voldemort, I've seen him in action. But I think my mother and Sirius are coming through to help me. I just feel it, you know? It feels like they want to help me in some way. And…and, I know they would if they could," he mumbled.

She stared back at him and squeezed his hand. "So you think that if I let them through and we find out what it is they are trying to tell you then you can defeat this dark wizard. Then maybe I won't have these visions anymore?"

Harry thought it over and nodded. "I think…" he turned to the mirror and looked at the two of them standing together, " I think that this house is a part of it. If we had been anywhere else this wouldn't be happening."

Mariah stared at their reflections and then turned to him. "Well there's one way to find out."

Harry looked at her with a puzzled expression, "How?" he asked.

"I don't know how it works here, but back home I would give a séance," she answered with a small twinkle in her eyes.

When they told Hermione what they wanted to do she looked back at them with horror written all over her face. "Are you mad?!" she asked.

"Hermione," Harry sputtered, feeling somewhat sheepish, "I think it will help. We have to do this before Snape and Lupin get back because they aren't going to like it one bit."

"Of course, they aren't going to like it, Harry!" she gasped and glanced once at Mariah and then back to him and lowered her voice. "It's so risky. We don't know that it wouldn't be an open invitation to Voldemort. You aren't a practiced Occlumens and haven't been able to stop Voldemort when he's tried to invade your mind before. Think what he would do to Mariah's." She pulled her hair back from her face in anguish and rubbed her temples. "This is so difficult!"

Harry nodded and said, "I understand Hermione, I really do. But the one advantage I have is that Voldemort doesn't know the whole prophecy. If he learns of it he's going to come after me with a vengeance and stop at nothing until I'm gone. I can't win if I fight him! I saw him in the Atrium at the Ministry when he was fighting Dumbledore." Harry stood and circled the table much the way Remus had the night before. "I won't be able to kill him, Hermione, not in a million years. He's too powerful."

"But Harry, give it some time. You're not even out of school. Dumbledore can protect you at Hogwarts until we can come up with a plan. Why are you pushing this?" she asked,looking at him with large tender eyes. "Please Harry, this is suicide!"

He stopped in front of her breathing hard, and said, "Suicide? Is it Hermione? How many more people are going to die? He has to be stopped and I am destined to be the one who stops him. I can't stay here or at Hogwarts hiding until he learns the truth and comes for me. I'm not going to put everyone else's life in danger and hide behind all of you." Harry dropped to the chair and watched her.

She looked at him with tears brimming her eyes and turned away, shaking her head. Mariah watched them silently.

They sat in silence for what seemed to Harry like hours. He toyed with a spoon, turning it over and over, looking into it and then flipping it.

Hermione stared across the room until she finally slammed her hand on the table, "Please stop that Harry, it's annoying!" She was angry. He looked at her feeling defeated.

Mariah was staring blankly at the table and looked up at the sound. Bantu was in her lap watching the flashing spoon. When Hermione slammed her hand down, he stood and walked across the table and sniffed it and touched it delicately with a paw. Hermione stopped frowning and raised a finger as if to shake the paw.

"Lily will protect me," Mariah said softly. She surveyed them with a calm, tender look and reached out to stroke Bantu. "That's why she's come back. She knows how to kill him. She died before she could tell anyone, but she knew." Harry and Hermione turned to her. Mariah continued. "She says that she was there the night that Sybil Trelawney made the prediction in the Inn. The eavesdropper who overheard it, told her. She went to Dumbledore for protection and he helped her with a charm. A ancient charm to protect you, Harry. But it cost her dearly. She knew it would mean her life and she was willing to pay the price. She wonders if you'll trust her now."

"Mariah," Hermione said gently, "Is it you? Are you here with us?" Harry knew what she meant. He couldn't tell if the woman had returned to a trance.

Mariah picked up Bantu and set him back in her lap. She smiled at them. "Yes, it's me. But I hear a voice in my head." She looked over at Harry. "It's your mother. She wants you to trust her. That's how it feels to me."

Harry turned to Hermione, and said, "We won't do this without you Hermione."

"Harry, could Voldemort be tricking Mariah?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Could he be the voice she hears?"

Harry sat back, startled at her question. He probably would have acted rashly and not stopped to think about other possibilities. Hermione had been the one who had cautioned him before about Sirius and the Department of Mysteries. Now, he studied her face and considered it. He knew Voldemort was capable of trickery, capable of lots of things.

"How can we tell?" he asked. He and Mariah watched Hermione.

She rested her chin on her hand and stared back. "You said that you were in her mind Harry. That you and Snape were there in the tent, with your mother and…and the younger Snape; that night at graduation. What happened in that tent?"

Harry's head swiveled back to Mariah. She closed her eyes, stroked the black cat and appeared to be speaking, her lips moving without making a sound. She opened her eyes and they twinkled as she spoke, "I kissed him," she said. "I kissed Severus on the lips."

Hermione turned to Harry with an eyebrow raised. "Your mother kissed Snape? Do you believe that?"

Harry nodded. "Now will you help us?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine The Séance

Lupin went through the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He stepped into the red telephone box, picked up the receiver and dialed 62442 and waited for the female voice in the telephone box to speak. His mind drifted to the numbers he had just dialed; adding, combining and sorting them. _666, _he thought as he heard the cool voice of the Ministry receptionist speak above his head, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business and feel free to take a sweet from the dish located in front of you."

Lupin smiled. It was obvious that Albus Dumbledore was in residence. "Remus Lupin to see acting Minister Albus Dumbledore.

"Thank you visitor. Please take a visitor's badge from the receptacle and attach it to your robes. Due to unfortunate circumstances and security purposes a member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will meet you in the Atrium at the Security desk and confirm your identity. Please be prepared to submit to a search and present your wand. Thank you. Have a nice day." The lift was dropping even as the voice faded out.

Remus walked quickly down the length of the hall past the place where there had once stood a fountain. There now stood a structure that surrounded the area and a sign attached read: Under Construction. He was headed for a pair of gates at the end of the hall when Dumbledore stepped out and walked towards him. He waved off the security wizard and strolled through the crowd of people coming and going.

"Remus, good to see you," Albus said, his hand outstretched in greeting.

Lupin took it and the two shook. "Good to see you, Albus."

"Come, come this way," Dumbledore said. "The lift always holds its' doors for me even though I've instructed it not to." They stepped in with a group of people looking both hospitable and inhospitable. Some were upset that the lift waited and some not; a few nodded to Lupin when they saw he was in the company of the acting minister. "I'm bunking in with Arthur Weasley these days," Dumbledore continued heartily as the lift descended.

It opened on Level two the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which included the offices of Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and the Wizengamot Administrative Services. They walked a short distance down a hall, turned a corner and entered through double doors. They walked past the Auror cubicles and further down to another doorway leading to a hallway.

"Has Arthur moved to a new office?" Lupin asked as they took an unfamiliar turn.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, well, I've put him charge of a few essential matters and he needed a space large enough to accommodates some assistants."

Instead of the door at the end of the corridor which Lupin thought should have been a broom closet and had been Arthur Weasley's previous office, they stepped through a doorway immediately on the right.

"You're not using Cornelius' old office?" Lupin asked as Dumbledore motioned him into a chair. The office looked similar to the one at Hogwarts, the furniture, the assembly of odd items he liked to keep around and Fawkes, sitting on his perch. Even though they were below ground, there was a large window that had light shining through which illuminated several desks sitting haphazardly around the end of the room. No one else was present.

"Now we will have privacy and we can talk," Dumbledore said, sitting down in a comfortable overstuffed arm chair.

"Is Arthur not around?" Lupin asked wondering how best to proceed with what he wanted to say. He was making small talk. He watched as memos flew into the room and stacked themselves neatly into a box on a desk nearby. The box was labeled: Incoming. There didn't appear to be a box of 'outgoing' anywhere to be seen.

"Now Remus," Dumbledore said softly. "Let us not beat about the bush. We have important things to discuss and you have questions on your mind. How is Harry?"

Lupin cleared his throat and replied, "He's angry with you now. He's told me about the prophecy and he's frightened and he's feeling guilty." Lupin studied Dumbledore for a moment and said, "Albus, I'm not going to question why you told him about the Prophecy but I do believe he's old enough now to take matters into his own hands and that's what's worrying me."

Dumbledore nodded and sighed deeply, "Yes, I'm aware of it."

Remus sat forward, "Are you also aware of the gypsy muggle that he and Severus brought to #12 Grimmauld Place?"

Dumbledore nodded again.

Lupin scratched his chin and stared at the cold fireplace on his left. "She seems to have powers of divination and vision? Harry told me that she somehow…transported him and Severus back to the night of our graduation at Hogwarts. The night…that horrible, horrible night," he gasped, stopped and closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Dumbledore. "The gypsy woman has fueled his desire to know the truth."

Dumbledore frowned and studied his hand that rested on the chair arm, "How much of that night did he see Remus?" Dumbledore asked.

Lupin chewed his lips, avoided answering directly and said, "It seems that Lily is trying to send him a message. She took him to the tent on the grounds, to the Slytherin tent. He's trying to piece it all together. I also think that Voldemort is trying to enter the gypsy's mind and locate Harry. The level of her skills is unknown and therefore dangerous. If Voldemort possesses her then we have no way of protecting Harry."

"Where is Severus?" Dumbledore asked, frowning even more.

"He went to find some of her people- gypsies," Remus answered.

"Roma, Remus; they are called Roma," Dumbledore said and stood, crossing to the fireplace. "Who's with Harry now?"

"No one. Well that's not true, Hermione Granger and Mariah," Lupin said. "I realize that it's dangerous to leave them given Harry's stubbornness and curiosity. He's a lot like James in that regard. We've sent for the Weasley's, at least I think Harry owled them. So I need to get back to them as soon as possible. The truth is Albus, I don't know that surrounding him with an army of wizards would do any good."

"So you have come and you also have questions," Dumbledore said.

"If it's true that Harry is destined to kill Voldemort," Lupin said sitting back in the chair and staring at Dumbledore, "then how the bloody hell is he supposed to do it? And why is his dead mother trying to speak to him through this Roma? Why did Sirius adopt Harry as a Black without telling him?"

He stood up abruptly and faced his friend. "I have a lot of questions Albus. If we are to help Harry survive I think that some of these secrets that have been kept forever should finally be revealed. I want to know what happened to Lily and Sirius that night of graduation. Do you know?" He circled the desk and the chairs and wandered the room, turning back to the older man. "Harry says that there was someone present when you heard Sybil Trelawney give the prophecy. Who was it, Albus? Who passed that information on to Voldemort? And does he know the whole prophecy now?"

Dumbledore nodded and returned to his seat and once again sighed deeply. "I told Harry that I had made a mistake in not telling him about the prophecy. I tell you Remus, if I could redo what I have done I probably still could not have told him, because the weight of it is paralyzing, even to me. However, my error may cost us dearly. Harry feels I have betrayed him and there may come a time when he needs to trust me."

Dumbledore seemed to be talking to himself for a moment. He glanced up and continued after a pause, "I knew that Voldemort would find a way to return. I also am aware that he wants to kill me and what stands in his way is Harry." Dumbledore watched the man across from him pace the room. "I suppose I have made a number of mistakes by keeping information secret."

Lupin stopped and stared down at him. "I am the last Albus. The only ones left are that murderous, scabrous rat, Pettigrew and myself. Everyone else is dead. They were my friends Albus. I loved them! I loved her. Don't you think it's time I knew what happened? Are you protecting me? If you are then, don't! I am a grown man, not a child. If I have anything left in this world, it is Harry and I am very fond of him. Not because he is James and Lily's son, but because of who he is. I want him to survive and maybe one day we can be a family of sorts."

Dumbledore looked up with a sad smile on his face and nodded, "I love him too, Remus. If Harry is destroyed then we are all destroyed. Voldemort will wash over this world like dark shadow. Even I will not have the powers to stop him." He nodded towards the chair opposite him and Lupin dropped into it as if exhausted. "I will tell you what I know. But I warn you I do not have all the answers."

----------------------------

Harry nodded and turned to Mariah. "What do we have to do?" he asked.

She was about to speak when they heard the front door, Bantu stood up and listened, his tail in the air and Mrs. Black started her ranting. Hermione looked at Harry and frowned. "Remus?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and they both stood and headed for the door. "He'd have shut her up right off. Must be somebody else."

Standing in the doorway, shaking rain from an umbrella was Mrs. Weasley and Ron. Harry and Hermione and Mariah joined her and went back down the hall. Together they were able to close the curtains and quiet the woman. Harry waved the new arrivals back to the kitchen.

Hermione hugged Mrs. Weasley first and then gave Ron a quick hug. She introduced Mariah who was standing holding Bantu. Harry watched Mrs. Weasley give Mariah an over all cursory examination. It was apparent that she was also nervous around a gypsy. Harry had never seen her act so skittish.

Ron had grown at least two inches in the past month. Harry shook his hand and had to look up at him. Hermione was smiling nervously at the two women who were talking at the far end of the kitchen.

"Is it just your mum and you?" she asked Ron.

He nodded. "I was really glad to get your letter Harry. We were worried about you," he frowned. "Dad's living night and day at the Ministry. Dumbledore- you heard he was acting Minster?" Hermione and Harry nodded and Ron continued, "Well he's got him doing things. We don't even know what they are. But Ginny's been sent to stay with some distant relatives until school starts. George and Fred are off somewhere and we don't know where, except Dumbledore says they are safe. Same's true of Charlie and Bill, haven't heard from them for awhile. And then there's Percy, he's just plain disappeared. It seems that Dumbledore's trying to protect us from You-Know-Who."

"Ron!" Hermione chastised him a little for not using Voldemort's name and took his arm to give it a supportive squeeze. "Dumbledore must really be worried. I bet your mother is frantic." They all glanced over at Molly Weasley again.

Ron nodded. "After all that's happened, what with the news articles flying around and Fudge leaving and… and, well I imagine you've heard the news? I think we're probably lucky Dumbledore is in charge for a while." He studied Harry and then looked over at his mother. "Mum says that you brought a muggle here? A…a gypsy."

Harry shrugged and nodded. He'd grown tired of the reaction and was miffed that their arrival had delayed the séance they were planning.

Hermione noticed the look. "Harry, you run Ron up to your room, I'll settle Mrs. Weasley in and figure out a way for Mariah and you and I and Ron to get together. It is alright if Ron joins us, isn't it?"

Harry nodded again and whispered, "Hermione, we've got to do this before Lupin comes back; or Snape."

"Then you best get Ron up-to-date!" she whispered back vehemently. Ron stood between them looking back and forth when his mother called out to him.

"Ronald! Ron come here and meet Harry and Hermione's friend," Molly Weasley was smiling and had an arm through Mariah's.

Mariah walked over and studied the tall boy and said gently, "Harry has told me about you. You are the boy with the sun in his hair." She smiled and shook his hand. "That's what my people would say. They think red hair is very lucky. I am Mariah and I am happy to meet you."

She caught Harry's eye and turned to Mrs. Weasley saying soothingly, "Molly, they think I am helpless in the kitchen because I am a muggle. But I do know how to stir a pot. We have many mouths to feed for dinner. Shall we look at what we can do? The young people can go and talk and we can become better acquainted."

Harry ran up the stairs with Ron behind him. He talked as they went. Hermione remained behind supervising Mrs. Weasley's visit with Mariah. Harry was speaking so fast that he was almost out of breath from climbing stairs and talking at the same time.

Ron punctuated the long story with "Really!, Blimey! and Harry!" and a plethora of facial expressions from wonder to amazement to horror at learning that Hermione thought Mariah was talking to Voldemort through Mrs. Black's portrait. "You're going to do what?" was his next question when Harry explained what they intended to do.

Harry listened at the door and was looking at the portrait that had adorned the wall in their room since the first time he had stayed there. It normally held the painted figure of Phineas Nigellus, Sirius' great-great-grandfather. The frame was now empty. Harry turned to Ron. "You've got to help us get your mom out of our hair this afternoon. I can't tell how long it'll be until Snape returns. Lupin won't be gone long, either."

"What do you hope to learn?" Ron asked sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looked back sourly at Harry and said, "I haven't a clue as to what to do with mum."

Harry paced the floor and kept looking at Nigellus' portrait. He thought carefully and turned to Ron, "We'll put a sleeping potion in her tea."

Ron stared at him with his mouth open.

Harry knew what he was feeling. Messing with Molly Weasley could be like grabbing the wrong end of a snake. "We've got to do it, Ron. We've got permission to do magic from Dumbledore and I have my trunk. Hermione probably remembers how to do a sleeping potion," Harry finished, "unless you do."

Ron was shaking his head when there was a tap on the door and Hermione poked her head in. Ron's head swiveled her way.

"What's up?" she asked. Harry told her.

She looked nervous. "Alright, then we need to do it fast. Mariah is saying too much. I don't think she understands that telling Ron's mum anything is dangerous."

Hermione took the ingredients and Harry's cauldron and started a heatless fire in the adjoining bathroom. Within ten minutes they were headed down the stairs with a vial of liquid in her pocket and Ron moaning aloud, "She's gonna kill me if she finds out."

----------------------

Mariah, Harry, Hermione and Ron sat in the sitting room around a round table holding hands. The curtains were drawn but lamps were lit in the room.

"Now I don't know how this is going to work here," Mariah was saying. "But we hold each other's hand. It's important not to let go, no matter what happens."

Harry and Hermione nodded. Ron gulped, "What if You-Know-Who shows up?"

Mariah glanced at Harry and then said firmly, "If he does, he can only speak through me. I can't do magic and he can't physically take me over since he's a living person."

Harry looked over at Ron hoping that he bought it. He wasn't sure if Mariah actually knew what would happen and HE had been possessed by Voldemort and Voldemort's snake; as one they had attacked Mr. Weasley and bit him.

"Go ahead Mariah," Harry urged.

The woman closed her eyes and began to speak in a rhythmic cadence, "We are here, ready to listen, ready for you to come through Lily. Harry is waiting. I am an open receptacle, listen to my heart. It beats with yours, it beats with him in rhythm to the music of our souls. Step forward and let him hear you. Hear the beat…of…our...hearts joined as one."

Harry felt the pull immediately. The room became fuzzy and he felt his head drop back, his mouth open and his arms grow rigid. She was there, in a dark place, lit only by moonlight; a full, cool springtime moon. He stood to the side watching as if he were the audience. Along with him were Hermione and Ron. They were ghostly filmy images that stood in the background.

They watched as his mother stood before them. They were on a grassy lawn and it was dark. She was talking to someone. Harry turned his head and saw Sirius, a young Sirius. They were still on the grounds of Hogwarts and he knew that it was after the scene in the tent with Severus.

Harry mouthed to Hermione and Ron, _She is showing us her memories._

"Why do you always have to be so impulsive Sirius," she asked angrily. "You still don't know what you almost did. We could have had a bloodbath tonight."

Sirius was also angry and stood his ground, hissing back, "What were you doing with Snape?"

Lily rose up to her full height and put her hands on her hips. "That, Mister, is not your concern. But- you will help me Mr. Black! Because of you his father is going to hurt him, probably torture him. So you and I are going to go and rescue him."

"Will not!" Sirius said. "Rescue you him, you say?" Sirius turned in a circle. "Lily, are you mad? Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you cannot learn to keep your mouth shut and control yourself," Lily answered. She walked over to him and stopped his restless pacing. "You know what you did this afternoon. Now be a man and admit it."

He stared at her and dropped his head. Harry looked on and knew what he was feeling. He knew that he loved her and was embarrassed. Harry watched in fascination, wondering if Sirius would give in.

Sirius shrugged, "For you Lily, anything for you." He smiled and Harry's heart beat faster. It was the same old roguish, boyish smile he remembered. Sirius spoke again, "Don't expect me to kiss and makeup with ol' Snivellus then."

She leaned over and hugged him and Harry watched the look on his face.

"You're a scamp, Sirius Black," she smiled wanly. "Now we just have to find Snape Manor."

"Shouldn't we fetch James?" Sirius asked.

Lily shook her head vigorously and said, "No Sirius. This has to be between you and me. I trust James, but I can't ask him to do this, besides you are the only one who knows that I'm Severus' friend. He made me promise not to tell and you just happened to see us that day so I can't very well deny it."

Sirius frowned at her and then looked off into the dark. "We don't have to find Snape's house, Lily. I know where they are tonight."

She was frowning at him.

"My father's secretary owled me an invitation to the Ball they are having this evening at Black Manor,' Sirius said, grinning wryly. "I guess my father neglected to tell the man that I have been disowned. The Snapes and everyone of any importance, that's to say every pureblood in there right mind, will be there. Tom Riddle's supposed to show up and give some big announcement."

Lily's frown grew deeper. "He's a murderer, Sirius. How can they associate with him at all?" she asked.

Sirius laughed. "Lily, who's the one being naïve now? They are his financial supporters and no doubt more than that. He's their hired killer. Do you think anyone of them want to cross their own hired assassin? He's gotten out of control and they know it."

Lily nodded and muttered, "Alright. At least you know your way around your own house. Maybe we can get to Severus quickly."

Like stones skipping across a pond, they flew from this memory to the next and the hands that joined them in real life were but strands of gossamer string as flimsy as a puff of smoke. Harry looked at the circle they made in the room at Black Manor and briefly wondered what would happen if it were broken.

Lily and Sirius stood outside Black Manor with three ghostly images standing nearby.

"We'll have to climb over the fence and go in by the cellar," Sirius said quietly. Lily nodded.

Harry glanced around him. The street was clean and looked different on the wizard-side during this time. The house was clearly visible behind a tall wrought-iron fence. The entire mansion was lit with thousands of candles and wizards and witches were lined up at the gate and beyond. All were dressed like royalty in the finest of cloaks and robes. It was obvious there was a party going on. Music drifted out into the summer night, along with a cacophony of voices

He watched as Sirius scaled the fence and put a hand down for his mother. They climbed over the fence in a dark corner, hid behind bushes and moved towards the back of the house. Like ghosts, Hermione Ron and Harry walked through the fence and followed the two humans.

Inside the house, Sirius used hand signals, first checking the corridors and hallways and then moving swiftly through the house. It was so well illuminated that going undetected was difficult. They stepped into a room and Sirius appeared to be familiar with where they were. He opened a wardrobe and pulled out a set of dress robes. He looked at Lily and with a wave of his wand transformed her clothes into that of a gown and cloak.

Harry watched and was stunned. He thought she looked beautiful with the diamond tiara in her hair and the emerald-diamond necklace laced at her throat. Her dress was made of a shining gold material and cut low at the bodice.

"You're getting better at transformation, Sirius," she said and giggled. "I'd give you that." She sobered and stood at the doorway and peered into the hall as he changed his clothing. "Is this your room?" She asked with her head turned.

"Yes," he whispered. "I'm surprised they didn't throw everything out and burn it. Ok ready?"

"Do you have an idea where they might be?" she asked.

He nodded. "My father and Brutus Snape are like brothers. He'd give him one of the better guestrooms over by the ballroom. That's in this wing on the second floor. We can start there and then look other places if they aren't there."

She nodded, checked the hallway and then they moved out together with her arm in his. "Don't you think people are going to recognize you?" she asked under her breath.

Sirius shook his head. "I look so much like Regulus that they'll think it's him. I can act like him if I need to." He glanced at her and grinned, "Pompous, you know."

Lily looked at him. "What about me?"

Sirius glanced at her and smirked in disgust. "They won't know you Lily. These purebloods don't mingle much with others except their own kind."

"That's what I'm worried about," she whispered under her breath.

In minutes, they descended the stairs, walked through the hallway and crossed over the open landing at the top of a grand staircase. Music floated from the ground floor and Lily could see hundreds of people gathered in a foyer or grand gallery. Sirius hurried them past the landing to the facing hallway. It ended in a large mirror that covered the end of the hall in its' entirety.

Sirius dragged her quickly to a room at the very end next to the mirror. He nodded and tried the doorknob. It opened. They stepped in.

Lily took in a deep surprised breath. Laying on a magnificent bed, the four posts draped in red velvet drapery, lay Severus Snape. Sitting at the edge of the bed was his mother. She turned when the two stepped through followed by their ghostly observers.

The woman recognized Sirius and smiled sadly at Lily and said sweetly, "I knew you would come."

"Mrs. Snape, I'm Lily Evans," Lily stepped forward leaving Sirius to listen at the door.

"Yes, I know who you are," the woman said. She was dressed in a blood red-evening gown that was a starling contrast t her white skin and ebony hair. She stood and reached for Lily's hand.

Harry thought the red dress against her pale skin was enough to make the woman look almost vampirish. Still, she was stirringly beautiful.

Severus lay on the bed and moaned, tossing his head and looking over with feverish eyes. The woman bent to him immediately and Lily followed.

"Is he hurt badly?" she asked, her face full of concern.

"Lily," the woman turned her head, "call me Madeleine. Since my son thinks so highly of you then I should feel offended if you didn't call me by my name." A white slim hand grasped Lily's and pulled Harry's mother to her knees. "Madeleine Potter Snape."

"What!" Lily's gasped.

The woman nodded, "Yes, Lily. I am Henry's sister. I have been cursed Lily. Since I married Brutus, married into this evil family, my life has been cursed. And through it my son's." She looked at the wounded boy on the bed. "We haven't much time. I want you to take Severus with you tonight. You are too late to stop what is about to happen. We have already received the mark," she pulled up her sleeve and showed a death's head mark scorched red and black on her arm. "It is but the beginning of our servitude to the Dark Lord who will demand our allegiance even to our deaths."

Lily sat down on her heels and held the lady's arm in her hand. "The Dark Lord? You mean Tom Riddle?"

The woman nodded. "He has become extraordinarily powerful and our husbands, our brothers and our children cannot stop him now. He means to rule us all. This is a magical oath that we have taken and it cannot be taken back." She looked sadly at the mark that was oozing and bleeding on the red dress

Lily looked over to the bed with concern, "Lady Madeleine, what about your son?"

Tears, like the diamonds that hung at her neck, started up in her eyes, "He also has the mark. He has been tortured using what is called an Unforgivable Curse. It is not known to you, but it will become more common believe me if the devil that is below has his wish." Her eyes dropped to the floor.

"Do you mean he is here?" Lily asked. "Tom Riddle is here?"

The woman nodded and reached for a goblet that sat on a table by the bed. It held a small amount of red substance that looked like blood. "I am considered something of a Seer and I knew that you would come. I have waited for you so that you may see what I am about to do," She took a small knife, glinting brightly in the candle light and placed it against her wrist.

Lily looked over at the door to find that Sirius was gone. "Lady," she cried, "don't do this!"

Madeleine Snape cut her wrist with one swift move and held the goblet underneath her dripping arm. "Since living in this family I have learned many things and dark magic is one of them. Because I wish my son to live, I am going to perform a charm that will protect him." Lily turned away and Harry could see the anguish on her face. "There will come a time Lily," the woman said and reached for her and grabbed her gently by the chin, leaving a bloody handprint on her face. "There will come a day when you will bear a son and he will be in mortal danger. Watch me so that you may learn!"

The woman stood and leaned over the bed and held her son's head in her hand, dripping droplets of her own blood into Severus' mouth. Lily watched from her position on the floor.

"Speak the words, DEMORTUSS EQUIDEM," she pushed back the black hair on his head and leaned gently to kiss him on the forehead. "Drop three drops into his mouth." It is mixed with the blood of Lord Voldemort," She said. "When we took our pledge he held the glass of his own blood to our lips. I didn't swallow, but spat it into my wine. This and my blood seal the charm."

"Mother," Severus murmured.

Madeleine turned to Lily. "In a few minutes something horrible will take place and you should be gone from here. I'm going to ask you for a favor before you go Lily. You are a friend of my son. He was forced to take the dark mark and serve the Dark Lord, but you must remind him that he is not evil; that he has my blood in him. You must promise me that you will not let him follow this evil." The woman's face was twisted in her agony and sadness so that it was no longer beautiful. "In return I offer you this." She held out a vial with a small amount of the blood from Voldemort. She pressed it into Lily's hands.

Lily struggled to her feet, looking at the vial with horror. She dropped it into a pocket and reached for the other woman's hand, speaking breathlessly, "I will try Lady, but we need to get him out of here now."

The woman nodded and got to her feet quickly. "Yes, I have prepared a way. Find Sirius and bring him back to the room."

"Lady, come with us. We need to get you to a healer," Lily said trying to hold the woman's bleeding arm and wrap it with a handkerchief. She withdrew her wand, "Let me heal this..."

"Don't bother with this child. You and I are now sisters, Lily," Madeleine said and smiled pulling her arm back. "What I am about to face is worse than this and it cannot be stopped. Perhaps it would be better to die this way then to face a cruel death." She frowned at her dripping arm and then turned to Severus. "But that is not important. Go girl. Find that boy, find Sirius, and bring him back!"

Lily went to the door stepped out and returned almost immediately.

"Sirius," Madeleine said, pulling Severus to a sitting position. "There is a hidden staircase behind the mirror is that not so?"

Sirius glanced at Lily and swallowed hard as he watched her pull Severus' legs to the floor.

"Come help me," she urged. "I will make it possible for you to walk with him." Lily stepped up and took one of his arms.

"Madam Snape," Sirius said approaching more slowly, "Do you know what happens if we take that exit?"

She nodded. "It is the shortest route. Sirius," she grabbed him by the shirt and left even more blood on him. "Just go, do not stop, do not watch. Take him."

Together, Sirius and Lily pulled Severus to his feet. Madeleine waved her wand and the two found that Severus was lightweight and drifting just a few centimeters above the ground. His head rolled forward and he groaned loudly. She stepped up, lifted his head and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"You won't remember this my son," she said. "But I love you more than my life. Do not grieve for me. I am going home and leaving this pain behind." She handed them a cloak made of strange cloth, Harry's ghostly self recognized it. _The invisibility cloak!_ He thought. "This is an invisibility cloak. You must take it and make sure you are not seen. If they find you they will kill you." She thrust the cloak into Lily's arms.

She turned and walked away from them to stand at the dark window and stare out into the night, leaving a trail of blood on the pale carpet.

Sirius and Lily stepped into the hallway with Severus between them. Sirius stopped in front of the mirror. "Lily take the cloak and go down the staircase and out through the front. It's the safest way," he said looking at the mirror.

"No Sirius," she shook her head and glanced down the hallway. It was empty for the moment.

He grabbed her and hissed, "To walk through this mirror is to invite evil. It is one of my father's favorite objects and it is full of dark magic. I will take Severus through it and meet you out front."

She was shaking her head. "But I have to go through all of those people. Even with an invisibility cloak, I will be discovered."

Sirius smiled at her but Harry saw the worry in his eyes. "I know who's downstairs Lily. If we get out of here alive we'll be lucky. You must take a different route than this. I promise you I'll get old Snivellus out of here. Now go! And don't follow me!" He pushed her down the hall and with one last smile stepped through the reflective pool of the mirror.

----------------------------

"If Harry ever knew that I helped his mother perform the charm that would protect him," Dumbledore was saying, "that would lead to her death, he would not forgive me. But Lily had heard the prophecy and feared, as I did, that it was about Harry. She didn't hesitate Remus. We both knew that using the dark charm meant her death and she didn't refuse."

"But who told her of the prophecy? Who was the person at the Hog's Head Inn that night that over heard Sybil telling it to you?" Remus asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"It was Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore said, standing. "Lily was like a shepherd with her flock when it came to all of you. She began to suspect him I think and watched him closely. He began to share information with Voldemort at least a year before I had the interview with Sybil Trelawney at the Hog's Head Inn. But of course, I wasn't aware of it. We were all caught by surprise when he betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort. Sirius would never have made him their Secret-keeper if he had known."

"But Lily suspected," Remus said also standing. "Surely she must have had her suspicions. He told her the prophecy."

"And she was about to have a child, about to deliver Harry. I think her thoughts were on her child's safety and that Pettigrew was sharing information to protect her," Dumbledore shook his head. "She came to me soon after."

"What went wrong with the spell Albus," Remus asked. "Why didn't it kill him?"

Dumbledore shook his head and said, "It was dark magic, the worst kind and very ancient." He shuddered and leaned back against his desk. "I do not know why it didn't kill him but I do know that it created a link between Harry and Voldemort. It was not what we had intended, Lily and I. And truthfully, Remus, I do not know what it's purpose is."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten Massacre at Black Manor

Harry, Hermione and Ron watched as Lily made her way to the grand staircase draped in the invisibility cloak. The Gallery was still teaming with people and Harry held his ghostly breath anticipating that his mother was going to bump into someone or be discovered with every step she took down the stairs.

There were two doors that opened into the Gallery. From their viewpoint Harry knew that the one on his immediate left was the grand ballroom that he had visited earlier in the day. The one on the left, that had forbidden his entry, was now open, the walnut doors spread wide and light shone from the interior.

The trio followed Lily's winding trail down through people going up and down the staircase. She stopped momentarily adjusting the cloak and picking up the edge of her gown to avoid tripping. It was only when she almost reached the bottom stair that Harry bit his lip. Coming up the stairs, a tray held in his hands, was Kreacher, the house elf. Although not as gnarly and wizened as he was in Harry's own time, he still looked incredibly old and feeble.

Kreacher stopped with his foot on the first stair and sniffed. He couldn't see her but he knew that she was there. Harry was mumbling under his breath even though he knew it was a memory. He was so caught up in what was happening that he reached out to push her, whispering, "Hurry, hurry."

The elf stepped back, sat the tray on a table near the stairs and moved to the ballroom. Lily must have known that she was about to be caught and she stepped down quickly and was just passing the two open set of doors when she turned her head left. She froze, her mouth open and was backing towards the ballroom doors in her astonishment.

"No, No!" Harry shouted. "Not that way mother!"

The trio took the last steps in one large step and Harry along with Hermione and Ron also turned to stare at what Lily was looking at. It was a large room, lined with shelf after shelf of books. It would have been formally called a library in most homes, or an office library combination. Seated at a large carved desk was someone Harry was very familiar with; it was Voldemort.

Harry heard an ethereal gasp from Hermione and Ron. He didn't turn to look at them, he stood beside his mother staring at the gaunt, inhuman face of the man he had met in person. This Voldemort was not as ravaged and horrific as the later Voldemort; but still he was a ruin of a man.

He appeared to be holding court in the library. At his side stood Brutus Snape and Victor Malfoy, both of the men had been at Hogwarts earlier in the day. There were others that were going into the room, bowing deeply and speaking to him. Harry's eyes drifted to one of the women who stood at the desk. She was a pretty woman but even through his mother's memories, Harry could detect the look of madness her in dark eyes. It was Bellatrix Lestrange. Beside her was Narcissa Malfoy, her sister. Harry wished that what he was experiencing was real. He desperately desired to take the dozen steps into the room, point his wand at Bellatrix and kill her on the spot.

"Kreacher smells a muggle female, mistress, Kreacher thinks the muggle is hiding," the house elf said and was followed into the gallery of statuary and fine art by Lady Black, Sirius' mother. Harry glanced over his shoulder in the same manner as his mother. He could read her expression of horror. She had waited too long in her surprise at seeing the Dark Lord.

Harry heard Voldemort's voice and simultaneously the irritating screech of Mrs. Black.

"You will call me Lord Voldemort. I demand your allegiance and fidelity. I mark you as one of my own," Voldemort was saying. "You will never question my authority and will follow every command that I give." A flash of green light lit the room for an instant and Harry knew that another person had just received the dark mark. In front of him, Mrs. Black was searching the foyer diligently with beetle-black eyes.

"Where is this muggle, Kreacher?" she screeched like nails on a blackboard. "I see no one here. If you have bothered me and taken me away from my guests on a fool's errand, you will be punished."

"Kreacher knows she is here Mistress," the elf cried. "Kreacher can smell her."

Lily looked at the entrance to the Gallery and had turned, about to head for it, when there was a loud commotion and a throng of people pouring through it heading directly towards her. There was no way for her to avoid the group and leave by that doorway and make her way to the safety of the street.

Harry watched her cringe, step back and pull the invisibility cloak tight about her.

The crowd stopped. At the head of it was Henry Potter and his wife Elizabeth. Harry stared at him in horror. Nearby were some familiar people although many years younger; even a couple that looked very like Remus Lupin. Harry guessed that these were friends of his grandfather's. There were at least twenty people in the group. They were far outnumbered by the one's in the ballroom and adjoining rooms.

"Where is he?" Henry asked Mrs. Black curtly. She stepped back and screamed out her husband's name. The trio knew that scream very well; had listened to it every time the front door of the Black house had opened.

Lily stepped back to the stairs, trapped now by the people that immediately began pouring into the hall from the Ballroom. Harry, Hermione and Ron stepped back with her their ghostly images attached to her. They watched as the obvious parents of Crabbe and Goyle stepped from the ballroom. Harry recognized others, Dolohov, Karkarov and Crouch. He had been in the Pensieve during their trials. They were all Death Eaters.

Harry knew what would happen next, he felt a twinge in his scar even though this was an old memory of his mother's. The crowd moved as one back into the ballroom as Voldemort walked through the library door and towards the smaller assembly.

Henry Potter was swept along with his wife, and Harry's grandmother, Elizabeth, backward into the brightly illuminated room. He remained facing Voldemort squarely. Few people noticed when Madeleine Snape stepped through the door behind Voldemort and moved around to his side. Droplets of her blood left a speckled trail across the white marble floor but her red dress camouflaged the fact that she was bleeding profusely. Even her pale skin, now almost transparent from loss of blood, did not give her away.

"What do you want Henry?" Voldemort asked with an oily voice. He walked slowly towards the small group surrounded by the much larger party of Death Eaters.

"We're here to stop you Tom," Henry Potter said. "The killing has to stop. Muggles are dying in very strange ways and it will ultimately lead the muggle community to wizard kind. We know that you are using dark magic, which is strictly forbidden by the laws. We've come to escort you to the Ministry for questioning.

"A self-appointed vigilante, are we?" Voldemort asked, grinning and swinging his wand casually in his hand.

It was at that moment, as the man circled them that Henry Potter saw his sister, Madeleine.

"So you have joined this _self-proclaimed _Lord!" Henry roared at her. "How could you do this Madeleine?"

"How could I not Henry," she said weakly and stumbled towards him. "Did you not abandon me to these people? Abandon my son?" She made it all the way across the floor, her blood making a wide swath as her gown swept over her trail. She collapsed at his feet.

He reached for her and Voldemort pointed his wand and said, "So that all of you who do not yet believe in my powers and challenge my authority will now believe, I will show you who your Lord is! CRUCIO!"

Madeleine arched her back, her red-gloved hand catching her on the floor , the pain bending her backwards, her mouth wide but scream-less. Harry knew instantly that it took one time and the curse had stopped her heart. She dropped lifeless to the floor.

Brutus Snape was behind Voldemort and was not immediately aware of what was happening. He stepped around Voldemort and reached down in surprise to his wife's lifeless body. "What?!" came his startled question. "Why?"

Voldemort raised his wand again and said dramatically, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Brutus Snape had a second to look up at the man with a puzzled expression and then fall face down over his wife's body.

Voldemort was still circling, looking both at the party-goers and at Henry Potter's group.

"Do you doubt me now?" he asked them all.

"What spells are these?!" Henry asked, in shock. "Dark magic?" He stepped back, his wife taking his arm in terror. "How dare you!"

"You muggle-loving swine, Potter," Voldemort's face twisted into an ugly mask of hatred. "I will show you how I dare! AVADA KEDAVRA!"

-------------------------------------

Dumbledore stood over Remus Lupin's chair and shook his head slowly, "Your parents died in that ballroom that night Remus. I hope that somehow that may redeem them a little in your eyes. They left you as a child when you were bitten, but not because they were evil people. They went with Henry Potter and the others because they thought they were fighting for something important; and they were." Dumbledore's eyes were bright as he saw the man before him lean forward his hands over his face, his head down.

After a few minutes Lupin raised his head. "Yes, they could fight for muggles but their conscience could not extend to any other creatures, like werewolves." Remus stood once again. "It's alright, Albus, I have long since gotten over my anger. I'm glad that you were able to tell me how they died. What surprises me is how Voldemort got away with it. There were hundreds of people there."

Dumbledore nodded and raised his eyebrows. "It is the night that is never talked about, never mentioned. The purebloods that died that night did not die from the wands of Henry Potter and his companions. However, that was how it made to look. The Ministry did not bring anyone to trial. Most of the people in the Ministry at the time were too afraid. Voldemort won a victory that night. He terrified everyone who thought to cross him. He wanted to exert his authority, and he did. That was the night the Death Eaters were initiated." Dumbledore suddenly looked very tired. "It was a massacre, Remus. The only one's left standing were his loyal followers."

Lupin studied the face of his friend and asked, "What is there that's left that you haven't told me?"

"The Daily Prophet reported a number of strange deaths that night. Many people lost their loved ones, you and James Potter and others; Molly Weasley," he said. "Oh yes, the Prewitt's were there. But few knew how they died. Like you, their survivors read the papers or the Ministry officials stopped by and told them stories; all lies. Some guessed accurately and that was how the Order of the Phoenix began. We realized that we could not fight him openly." Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him and Remus waited. "Lily and Sirius were in the mansion that night. That is how I know what happened. They both told me."

Lupin sat back on the arm of the chair, his mouth open in disbelief. "What were they doing there?" he asked.

-------------------------

The wagons rolled into a semicircle and Snape located Hagrid among the people milling around.

"We must move along more quickly than this Hagrid. Tell Yuri that it's not necessary for all of his people to come with us," Snape growled, now in a foul mood.

"Professor, this is how they do things. I can't do nothing' about it," Hagrid said in exasperation as he unbridling a horse. "We are pretty close anyway."

"Close!" Snape said curtly. "We are nowhere near close!" He swund around and stared at the dark forest that now looked almost inpenetrable. "Hagrid we are in the middle of the forest!" His ddep voice boomed and Hagrid grimaced at the noise.

Yuri strolled up beside Hagrid and removed a toothpick from his mouth. He looked happy and even smiled at Snape. "We will camp here for the night."

"Perhaps Hagrid did not explain that we are in a hurry," Snape said, hastily. "There is clear and present danger in not having this woman watched by skilled wizards. Will you apparate to the house so that you can at least speak with her?"

Yuri shook his head and bent his head to study the ground and scuff at the dirt with the toe of his boot. "We do not believe in traveling that way."

"Perhaps a broom?" Snape said glancing at the people preparing to start their chores; women taking out pots, boys gathering wood, moving livestock and horses out to graze.

"We do not travel that way either," Yuri said, looking up. He was small in comparison to Snape who was small in comparison to Hagrid. Snape looked up at Hagrid who shrugged, raised his eyebrows and kept silent.

Yuri laughed and said, "We will arrive exactly at the right time."

Yuri took his elbow and was guiding him gently towards the wagons. Snape looked at his arm as if he were being twisted behind his back. His raised eyebrows signified that he didn't quite believe the smaller man.

Cooking fires were started and Snape sat down on a downed log and folded his arms across his chest. He looked very irritated. Hagrid pulled a stump up to the fire and accepted a cup of tea. They were in the forest and the low-lying evening mists were swirling around the trees and cooling the air.

Snape had dealt with many creatures and people. He thought the Roma people looked fairly benign, but he wasn't sure. When _in doubt, _he thought, _it is best to keep one's thoughts to oneself and be patient. _His rule had kept him out of trouble many times and he wasn't about to break it. However, making this decision still did not make him happy.

-----------------------

Harry, Hermione and Ron stood along with Lily, paralyzed by the sight that consumed the next ten minutes. It was with some relief that Lily finally was able to move back through the Gallery undetected and flee the scene. She ran out into the night, down the drive and past the carriages lined up along the street. She had forgotten where she was and what she was doing and what she wore. Helpless, Harry and Hermione and Ron were swept along with her in the memory, trapped into see ing everything that she saw.

Lily stopped, out of breath and reached the stone fence. Two figures walked out of the dark towards her. One was obviously limping and moving more slowly.

Lily looked up and flew into the arms of the other, weeping hysterically.

"It's alright Lily," Sirius said choking back his tears. "I've got you. You're safe. We saw it, too." Severus leaned against the wall, obviously very weak, but conscious and aware. He stared at the ground and remained silent.

Harry watched, floating somewhere behind his mother in the dark and he felt his own tears forming. He once again reached out his hand to touch her, comfort her and then, he felt the searing pain in his head.

He reached for his head and found that there was no head there. He was still in his mother's memories, but cut off, drifting. He looked at Hermione whose eyes were wide with terror and Ron who was holding his hand and mouthing words to him, "Don't let go!"

Voldemort was searching for him. Like a beacon sending out a signal, their journey through Harry's mother's memories targeted him. Harry swung around and saw a figure walking towards him in the shadows and knew that it was the Dark Lord. He was helpless as the figure advanced.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven Lily

Snape was sitting at the bonfire and glaring at it as if that would make things happen more quickly. He looked up to see Yuri staring at him, a pipe stuck his mouth, the smoke from it curling into his squinting eye.

"It is time," the man said.

Snape jumped to his feet and turned to Hagrid. "Are you coming?" he asked.

Hagrid was also at the fire sipping at a bowl of tea. "No, Professor sir," he nodded, solemnly, "I'll be staying with Yuri an 'is people fer awhile. You go on."

Snape stood contemplating him for a moment and said quickly, "I'll see you then in a short time, Professor Hagrid."

Hagrid stopped in his motion of bringing his bowl of tea up to his mouth and blushed red.

Snape turned and followed Yuri to one of the wagons.

The Rom opened a wagon door into the dark interior of the wagon. Snape stood looking in and then at Yuri. Several of the other Rom stood by. Yuri motioned him in, "Step in and we will follow," he said.

Snape, not sure what to expect, had reached in his pocket and had his hand over his heart and his wand. He stepped in and stepped through the door of No.#12 Grimmauld Place. He heard a scream from the sitting room and had time to glance back and see Yuri and the other two men step through the door behind him.

He rushed towards the sitting room. Sitting around a table, holding hands, were Granger, Weasley, Potter and Mariah. Harry was bent back over his chair his head back, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a twisted scream. That was not where the sound he had heard came from. Mrs. Weasley was holding on to the door at the entrance to the room, her eyes wide and the strangled scream coming from her throat.

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were pressed back into their chairs as well. Both had horrific, terrible expressions on their faces as if they were seeing something almost unbearably horrible. The only one that seemed at peace at all was Mariah who sat holding hands with the others; her eyes closed.

Snape hurried into the room, unsure about what to do. Yuri followed, saw what was happening and moved behind Mariah. He closed his eyes, placed his hands on her shoulders and then looked up. He motioned to Molly Weasley to enter the room.

"Are you the mother of this one?" he asked nodding to Ron.

She nodded in reply, still speechless.

"Hurry," he said. "Put your hands on him and call to him. They are lost and they need a mother's hand to guide them back. Be strong now," he said.

Molly Weasley stared and then seemed to pull herself together. She nodded and stepped behind Ron and put her hands on him. Almost instantly her eyes closed and she too, looked shocked and terrified.

"Call to him!" Yuri said.

"Ron!" Molly yelled. "Ron it's your mother. I'm here. Right here!"

It was but a moment and Ron's face smoothed into that of one who sees his rescuer. "Mother?" he cried.

Snape watched as her presence seemed to effect each person that held the other's hand. One-by-one they relaxed, heads dropped and shoulders slumped. He noticed that the last was Harry, who had spittle running from his slack mouth. When the effect reached him, he took a deep breath and slumped, falling from his chair and breaking the bond of joined hands.

Snape caught him and looked at Yuri.

The man smiled, stepped back and looked down at the head of Mariah. "She is a powerful Rom witch," he said smiling.

---------------------

As always Harry was a little chagrined at finding himself waking up in a bed somewhere, having lost some time and always feeling like it was a sign of weakness. The room was dark and he assumed that he was in his bed. He opened his eyes to the dark.

A tap on the door and the light of a candle drew his eyes to the door. "Harry are you awake?" It was Remus.

Harry sat up and said, "Yes, come in."

Lupin entered the room, sat the candle on the side table and handed Harry a hot cup of coffee. Harry smelled it and smelled something besides coffee. Lupin smiled at him and waved a hand, "Thought you might need a little something extra."

Harry sipped and tasted alcohol. Several mouthfuls and he felt the warmth of it rush through him. He scooted up and leaned against a pillow. "The others, are they alright?" he asked, quietly.

Lupin nodded and sat in a chair he'd pulled up to the bed.

"I'm glad it's you Remus and not…not Snape or someone," Harry managed. "At least not yet."

Lupin looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "Hermione and Ron have filled us in a little as to what was going on. It was a foolish thing to do you know, don't you Harry?"

Harry glanced at him. He knew that Remus wasn't angry, just concerned. "Did they tell you all of it?" he asked.

Remus nodded again.

Harry also nodded, "She's not finished you know. Mother…she's still not finished telling me what she wants me to know. And she'll keep on trying to find ways to get through. If it's not Mariah, it'll be something else." He said it and almost immediately the bed began to rock of it's own accord. Harry slipped the tea to the table and held on. Remus looked at him and then the bed, stunned.

"You see!" Harry said. He looked behind Lupin and saw writing appear on the surface of the mirror. "Look! Look behind you!"

Lupin spun on the chair, his hand on his wand and stared. Words were forming: _Please help him Remus, _it read. Lupin stood and walked to the mirror, placing a hand against its cool surface. "Lily?" he asked. His face was a study of longing and sadness and puzzlement.

Like Hermione had been with Mariah before, Remus stared at the mirror looking skeptical and finally asked, "How do I know it's you? Is it truly you?"

Harry saw him gasp and take a step back. When he did he could see a faint misty figure begin to form. He slid off the bed and walked to the mirror, standing beside Lupin. The form never solidified, but was clearly his mother.

"Harreeee," a voice drifted to them from some far away place.

"Mother?" Harry reached for the mirror and placed his hand on it, then leaned in and pressed his forehead to it. "Mother."

------------------

They sat in silence for almost a half hour. Remus had turned his chair to look at the mirror which was now clear and empty of anything but his reflection. Harry sat beside him on the bed sipping at the cold coffee-brandy liquid. His head was down and he was feeling calm.

"Was Snape there when Hermione and Ron told you what we saw?" Harry asked.

Lupin nodded and continued to stare at the mirror. His eyes, however, were unfocused. He swung his head around. "Yes. I think he knew most of it Harry, or least had guessed. he was conscious through some of it before Sirius got him to the street."

Harry sat the cup aside. "I'm sorry about your parents," he said.

Lupin took a breath and smiled, "It's alright Harry. Those are very old wounds, mostly healed I think." He turned back to the mirror. "She was an amazingly brave woman wasn't she? Your mother."

Harry knew he was speaking of his mother. "Yes."

Lupin turned back to him and they stared at each other.

"He's peeking," Harry said suddenly. "Voldemort. When we were in a trance, he was listening in on our thoughts. I think they are still very faint to him and probably don't make sense, but he is listening."

"Yes, what you did was very dangerous." Lupin stood and said, "I can understand now how this might attract you; seeing your dead mother and all." He was looking at the mirror.

"Attract me?" Harry said curtly. "Is that what you think? That I want to see her again because I miss her?" He stood angry for the first time. "Did you read her words? She is asking you to help me."

Lupin nodded again, and answered, "Yes, I see that. But if these visions or trances or whatever lead Voldemort to you, he will kill you. And Harry," he placed a hand on his shoulder, "there is nothing we can do to stop him."

"Yes, but," Harry argued, "she is trying to tell me something; how to kill him. I know it, I just know it!"

"If he reaches you first, it will not help," Lupin said kindly.

Harry dropped to the bed, frustrated and incensed. "So you won't help?"

Lupin sat beside him, folded his hands and remained silent for a minute. "I want to help but we must think this through. So far all we know is that Madeleine Snape taught your mother how to use an ancient blood curse. When Lily-your mother- heard the prophecy from Pettigrew…" Remus glanced at Harry, "yes, we know it was he that told her. When she heard it she thought it was about you. She went to Dumbledore and convinced him to help her perform the charm." Lupin watched him carefully.

"Dumbledore helped her?" Harry asked, quietly. "Then he knew that to use it she would have to sacrifice her life." He looked again at the mirror.

Remus nodded. "Yes. He told me today when I went to him. Your mother was desperate to protect you and she did. The truth is Harry, your mother could be very persuasive when she wanted to be."

He nodded, feeling a tiredness take over. So many things, so many secrets. He stared at the man at his side.

"Knowing that she used the charm doesn't help," Remus continued. "We know it was meant to kill Voldemort when he tried to kill you but it didn't work."

"Does Dumbledore know why it didn't kill him?" Harry asked.

Lupin shook his head. "No."

"Then we must let my mother continue." Harry said and stood, looking down at Lupin. "She knew he would kill her and she was willing to let that happen so I could live. I can't just stand around waiting until he kills me off. She's trying to tell me that. She trying to tell you that too." He clenched his fists in exasperation. "We can't let her sacrifice be in vain."

Harry felt that if the mirror writing, his mother's appearance and his own words could not make Lupin agree then he would go it alone. Lupin seemed to read it in his face too.

"I know what you are thinking," Remus said, standing, too. "Just give us some time to think about this, will you? Severus and I, and now maybe even Mariah and her people; let us talk about it?"

Harry searched Lupin's face and saw the sincerity and nodded. "Alright."

"Let's go down for some dinner, alright?" Lupin asked.

Harry followed him to the door. "How is Snape doing?" he asked finally.

Lupin turned to him at the door, "One never knows what to expect with Severus. Let's hope that some of the anger has washed away. Then again, he may feel like he's had his life exposed to the world or he may not. Who knows? I think it wise to go gently with him."

Harry nodded again and they descended the stairs together.

------------------------------

Everyone sat at the table eating quietly and not speaking. Mariah and Yuri and his two companions were gone. However, Molly, Snape and Remus had stayed behind with Hermione and Ron and Harry.

Harry broke the silence. "I'm not going back to school this term. I'm not going back to Hogwarts."

Hermione looked up from her plate and gasped, Ron frowned, Molly Weasley stared and Lupin was the first to speak. "You think that wise, Harry?" he asked.

Harry knew what he was referring to. Lupin thought that their discussion in the bedroom would put him off.

"I need to be in this house," Harry said and continued to eat. "It belongs to me now. Sirius adopted me and that means he left this house to me. I'm staying."

It looked like Lupin was about to argue with him when Snape set his fork down. He was at the end of the long table and Harry at the other.

"No," he said simply, but firmly, "You won't." The dark eyes glared down the table and met his own.

"What's to stop me?" Harry asked, laying his own fork down. It was very much like laying the gauntlet down.

"No, you won't," Snape said again. "You are not of age yet and you must have a guardian."

"I don't need a guardian," Harry snapped. "And who would that be anyway? It seems I've run out of people to be my guardian."

"I have applied for guardianship and Dumbledore sent the proper paperwork through this evening." Snape said calmly.

Lupin stared at him and laid his own eating utensil down. "Now, see here Severus..."

Snape glared at him and then looked down the table at Harry. "You will be on the Hogwarts Express, as is customary, on September first, exactly thirty-eight days from today."

"I will be sixteen on my birthday which is July 31!" Harry said. "In case you aren't aware of it, I don't need you, I will make my own decisions."

Snape stood and the two glared at one another. Harry turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He walked into the sitting room and took his arm, stretched it out and started to clear off the tops of tables. He threw a chair over, reached for a vase and dropped it. He moved from one side of the room to another kicking, throwing and shouting. "I hate it here. I feel like a prisoner!"

When he turned from clearing off the mantel he saw, instead of Lupin, Snape standing at the door. He was leaning against it with his arms folded over.

"What?!" Harry shouted. "This is my house I can do whatever I please!" He rushed past Snape into the hallway and strode down to the front entrance. Pulling out his wand he yanked the curtains aside and faced the shriveled, hideous black eyes of Mrs. Black. Before she could open her mouth, Harry pointed his wand and shouted, "INCENDIO!"

The portrait burst into flame, and Mrs. Blacks normal screams turned into shrieks.

"GO TO HELL!" Harry shouted back. "GO WHERE YOU BELONG! BURN!"

The flames were leaping quickly to the ceiling when Snape rushed up and pushed him aside. He pointed his own wand which sent jets of water over the fire. The flames were put out and the picture hung smoldering on the wall. Harry noticed with satisfaction that the face of the woman was entirely burned away.

Snape turned to him his jaw working as he gritted his teeth and hissed, "Finished or would you like to burn the whole house down?"

Harry was inches away from Snape's face. "And if I did, would you stop me?" he dared.

Snape remained silent although Harry could tell that he wanted to say something.

"You should be right beside me helping me burn it to the ground," Harry growled. "This is where she died- in this house. This is where your own mother took her life so that you could live. Doesn't that count?"

Snape drew himself up to his full height. Harry thought that the man would be enraged, instead he put his wand in his breast pocket and said calmly, "We may never know what secrets this house may reveal to us if you burn it to the ground now. When the right day comes Potter, I will be the first to set it afire."

Harry stared into the eyes and dropped his own wand arm. Snape turned and started off down the hall. "Professor," he said softly, "your mother was a beautiful woman. I wish I could thank her for helping my mother." The man stopped for a moment and then continued on down the hall. Harry looked at the portrait and whipped the scorched curtains back over the black hole.

_At least Mrs. Black, you won't be opening your big mouth anymore_, he thought and turned and followed Snape.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12 The Library

It was dark and Harry sat in the conservatory and looked up through the glass ceiling and studied the stars. It was the only room in the house where he felt comfortable. He didn't light the street lamps that lined the small paths that wound their way through the room. He wanted to smell the roses and look at the stars.

Bantu walked up and jumped up to the white scrolled wrought iron bench and sat looking at him with her iridescent green eyes.

"What are you doing here, Bantu?" Harry asked reaching out to stroke the black cat. It arched under his hand and purred.

"Did you think that I would leave you Harry?"

He didn't turn. "Hello," he murmured. "I thought you'd gone with the Rom."

Instead of walking over and sitting down, she strolled through the room, stopped to touch a flower bud or smell a new bloom. It reminded Harry of their nights together on the porch at her house. He remained silent and smiled when he heard a note. It was a note strummed on a guitar. He closed his eyes and listened as she played.

He felt relaxed when she sat down beside him and laid the guitar in her lap.

"I think I have found home Harry. The people welcome me and can teach me and that can come later. I have decided that I won't leave you to face this dark man alone. Our business isn't done." She spoke gently and reached for his hand. "I'm not afraid anymore. Yuri and Gregor and the others have given me confidence. They are wonderful people, Harry. They can help us."

Hermione slipped in the door and crossed the path to join them on the bench. They sat in silence, a cool breeze blowing in from an open roof vent. It was a hot August evening and the vegetation was giving off a humid, dank aroma. The smell of roses was very strong.

"Harry," Hermione spoke very softly. "I know you were angry earlier. Are you still angry?"

Harry was on the opposite side of Mariah and he squinted at Hermione in the growing dark a moment before answering. "How can I stay angry Hermione. It would eat me alive if I stayed mad all the time. It's just that I never have control over my own life."

"Harry, I think Snape was telling you that you have thirty-eight days to find out what the secrets are in this house. I don't think he was threatening you. He does have the right to take guardianship. From what we've learned he is your second cousin. Other than your great aunt, he is the only living blood relative you've got."

"Why doesn't that make my head swim with happiness," he answered sarcastically. He said it, but didn't feel it. Something she had just said was rolling around in his head. It disappeared the minute he tried to pin it down. "What's happening with Ron?" he asked.

"Well, Mrs. Weasley wants to leave and take Ron with her. Snape and Remus are down there trying to convince her that this is still the safest place to be. Putting a sleeping potion in her tea didn't please her."

Mariah chuckled to herself and strummed her guitar. The melody was faintly reminiscent of a Spanish song. "Kids still play tricks on adults even here. It just happens that they are a little more sophisticated than in the muggle world. That's good to know."

"'Hermione?" Harry stood and scratched the pathway rubble with his foot. "You just said something and I can't quite shuffle it around in my head. Do you think Snape is saying that I should try and contact my mother again?" He pointed his wand at a lamp overhead and said "LUMOS."

Mariah stopped playing, "I love it when you do magic Harry. When any of you do it. It's…" she chuckled, "like magic!" She continued to play the guitar and then stopped suddenly. "Harry?"

"What?" he asked. Hermione had not answered him yet.

"Can you make love potions?" Mariah asked.

Both he and Hermione looked at one another and then Hermione answered, "Yes, they can be made. But they aren't used very often Mariah. They're, well, they aren't long-lasting. Most aren't anyway, not like other spells. And they sort of verge on dark magic." Hermione stood and looked down at the woman. "You know it sort of takes away willpower and that's frowned on here. It's misusing magic. There are guidelines for what witches and wizards follow and mostly they aren't crossed. Those guidelines come really naturally to most of them. It's only half muggles like myself and Harry, that have to learn as we go."

Mariah nodded and grimaced, "Of course, it would be wouldn't it?"

Harry glanced at Hermione who was smiling slightly. He would have been amused too, but the conversation was again like a pinprick to his mind. "Misused," he murmured.

They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat in the doorway across the room. It was Snape.

Hermione pulled on Harry's arm and they walked past Snape as he moved into the expansive room towards Mariah.

"Evening Professor," Hermione said as she passed him.

"Evening Professor," Harry said and glanced at the man. Their eyes met briefly and Harry suddenly knew what he couldn't place a moment before. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her into the hallway.

"Shhh, Harry," she said grinning. "I want to listen."

"'Hermione," Harry pleaded, having a hard time pulling her away from the door, "I don't care about Snape's love life. Come on, I have an idea." He glanced back and saw Snape sit beside Mariah and heard the low hum of his deep voice.

"Oh, great!" Hermione mumbled and moved out into the hall. Ron was just walking towards them.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Never mind!" Harry snapped. "Come on!" He led the way back the direction they had come and then made a turn at the bottom of the stairs and stood in the entryway to the large ballroom and library. It was completely dark except for the moon shining through high windows in the foyer. The dark shapes of the statuary, hanging cobwebs and the stillness of the chamber was spooky. It was very like a mausoleum with its' marble floors and a cathedral ceiling.

Harry heard Hermione inhale sharply, "I know where we are," she said. They all looked around. The moonlight illuminated two sets of footprints visible through the dust on the floor. Harry knew them to be his and Mariah's from their prior visit.

Ron stepped back and said, "I do too. You sure you want to be here Harry?"

Harry nodded and then said firmly, "Yes. Hermione remember what is behind those doors?" He pointed across the foyer and gallery to the library doors." He saw her nod. "It's a library. Don't you want to see the library?"

She pulled her own wand out and said, "LUMOS." and turned to him and said with uncertainty . "In this house?"

He turned and walked across the floor. They followed him. "Yes, Hermione, in this house. You were both with me during that séance. We know that the ballroom is over there. I've already been inside recently. This door," he looked at it, "won't let me into the library, I've tried."

"And why do we want to go into the library?" Ron asked. "That's where, You-Know-Who was."

Hermione frowned at him and sighed, "Ok Harry. Why do we want to go in there?"

Harry reached for the handles and once again the dragon's eye lit up green and the little bursts of flames shot from their mouths. Hermione and Ron stood staring at them in surprise. Harry had removed his wand and was pointing at the handles, saying, " Ok, this is what I'm thinking. In the seance when we were watching, Madeleine Snape knew how to do the spell and then was waiting until my mother showed up so she could show her. We know that it was a spell of dark magic."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Using it meant that the person who was protecting another person, in her case Severus and your case, you; meant that that person would die. Madeleine Snape died and your mother died. That's what activated the spell."

Harry nodded and pointed his wand, "ALOHOMORA." The dragon's eyes remained a bright green. "Maybe we can find the spell in this library. It's supposed to be ancient dark magic. What better place then the Black Family library to look for ancient dark magic."

"So why do we need to know the spell Harry?" Hermione asked.

"It was something you said back there with Mariah," Harry answered, staring at the dark door as if daring it to disobey. "You said that witches and wizards rarely ever cross the line. They don't misuse magic. Well, I think that the purebloods misused magic all the time. That's what makes most of it so dark. They twisted it and distorted the spells and charms they used to serve their own purposes."

Hermione was listening intently, while Ron was looking around and periodically glancing at the ballroom doors as if he expected some of the dead from the night of the massacre to come strolling out.

Harry continued, "I think the spell was changed somehow. I think Madeleine Snape changed it to protect her son, not herself. That's self-sacrifice and love…"

"Oh I see. Because she changed it to protect only him it transformed the spell. IT wasn't dark anymore. A charm to stop somebody from killing oneself is greedy," Hermione's eyes twinkled in the light. " A charm to protect someone else is love. We have to find the charm they used and find out how it was changed. Maybe that's why Voldemort…," Ron let out a loud groan, "didn't die!" She grinned. "Oh Harry, that is brilliant!"

Harry nodded and went on, "Madeleine Snape would have figured out a way. She said it herself if I remember correctly, she said that she had learned a lot of dark magic." He turned once again to the doors, "Now, together I think. Ron." The other turned and together they pointed their wands at the doors and said, "ALOHOMORA."

The large doors swung open to reveal the ink-black interior. The room had remained shut for so long that even the air smelled dead. The decay of parchment and books and layers of dust kicking up at the opening of the doors hung heavy in the air.

Ron coughed and Hermione sneezed. Together they stuck out their wands to survey the room.

"Oh my!" Hermione gasped in a whisper.

In the heavy dust that covered the carpet, they saw a single set of footprints leading up to the desk. There were no return prints. Harry dropped his arm with the illuminated wand so that they could look more closely. It was obviously a woman's shoe, with the toe and heel plainly visible.

"Mother?" Harry asked in the muted silence. He stared up at the dark of the ceiling and at the walls.

There was no answering sound.

They advanced into the room, three arms extended to light the interior. Hermione began to touch her wand to the tips of the candles on the chandelier sitting on the desk. Each of them took a different route around the circular room, lighting candles.

"I am going to be so dead if mother catches me here," Ron mumbled.

"Ron!" Hermione was arching her neck backwards, studying the books that lined the shelves. "There's one thing about it Harry, we are going to have to be careful. It's like the restricted section of the library at Hogwarts. Some of these books are probably very dangerous, even to touch."

Harry had started at the other end of the semicircular set of bookcases. He was also looking up and had climbed a ladder to examine some of the top-most shelves. He glanced over at her. "Are they alphabetized over there?"

Ron was looking at the desk and moving parchments that were as crisp as chips and covered with dust. He was squinting and holding a hand over his nose.

"No , they aren't," Hermione said shaking her head. She held a lamp up to the bindings and was reading along at a faster pace then Harry. "We've got to come back when everyone is asleep Harry. Ron's right, this is going to take some time and Remus or Snape or Ron's mother will find us here. I'm sure that they'd seal off this side of the house if they knew we were here."

Harry looked over his shoulder at the door and continued to sweep his own light over the books, reading their titles and not touching them. He'd had his own bad experience in handling restricted books his very first year at Hogwarts. The desire to continue searching was strong and he didn't want to stop.

"Hello," Ron said. He was unrolling a document across the surface of the huge desk and was leaning over. "I don't know what you both found but I think I have something here."

Harry and Hermione both climbed down from the ladders that were connected to the shelving units and joined him at the desk.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"It looks like…" Ron was bent almost over it and running a hand over its surface. "It's a blueprint of the house." Harry stepped to one end and Hermione to the other. The three surveyed the paper.

"It is," Harry said. "Look here's the front of the house." He pointed his wand tip at the paper and used it as a pointer. "The muggle houses sit in the niches that are on each side of the main part of the house. That's why you don't see the wings. They must have been built on the grounds of the mansion and the muggles never knew that they had a great big dirty black house sitting in their backyards."

Hermione and Ron were at his shoulder staring down. Ron was tracing the paper with his finger. "This is just the first floor to the whole house," he said. "Wait." He pulled another scroll of paper from a small cubby hole under the desk and unfurled it. "Just as I thought. This is the second floor." His finger moved across the parchment and stopped. "We're here." He pointed and then moved his index finger up the set of stairs and along a hall. "Harry look at this!"

Harry bent closer. Ron had followed the course on the paper from the library, up the staircase and to the left. He showed them what should have been the end of the hallway; the place that ended in the full-length mirror. Instead, it ended in another stairway; one that descended to the first floor again. Together, the three pushed aside the second floor plan and looked at the schematic for the first floor.

"Oh my," Hermione said for the second time in an hour.

Harry agreed. If he was reading the blueprint right, the stairway led to a series of hallways and ladders and openings that went through the walls. Each room in the house was surrounded by an unseen corridor.

"I think old man Black was a peeping Tom, Harry" Ron said studying the lines. "The walls hide a hallway that goes round each one. What other purpose would there be to have them other than to see what was going on in the rooms. Here," he pointed, "there's even a room here in the library, behind…" he turned and stepped to the fireplace that sat behind the desk and tapped on the mantle, "this."

"There must be hundreds of hiding places all through the house," Hermione said. She was staring at the walls as if seeing through them to all the various corners of the house.

They sat quietly for minutes, and only the rustle of the dry paper and their muffled breathing filled the room.

"So Sirius stepped through that mirror and took Severus with him," Harry said. He had pulled the second parchment back on the desk. "This is the room Madeleine Snape and Severus were in that night." He studied the paper. "There's a hiding place behind that fireplace, too."

"Just think Harry," Ron turned, white-faced and gulped, "Voldemort could have had Death Eaters placed all over this house- spying on everyone."

Harry glanced up, the light of a candle glinting off his glasses. He sat the parchment down and then shook his head. "He was initiating them that night, Ron; remember? He probably didn't even know that the house had all of these hiding spots."

"No," Hermione said suddenly, "He didn't, but Hector Black did. He's the voyeur, the peeping Tom. And, I don't remember him being in the ballroom that night."

Ron frowned and stared at her, nodding, "Me either. We know where Mrs. Black was. But when the Potters and everyone showed up, she was screaming out for him and he didn't show. Did you see him Harry?"

Harry sat looking at them, frowning. "No."

Suddenly, a book flew off the shelf and landed in a cloud of dust on the desk, immediately over the top of the floor plan. They all were holding their breaths, staring at it's cover. Faded and worn, on a red-leather cover of the very thin book; the letters slowly formed. They read: _House Elves and Their Magic by Tinker, Daffodil and Bonbon._

Ron burst out laughing, Hermione said, "Oh My!" and Harry exhaled. _Of Course_, he thought_, purebloods are raised to depend on their elves for everything._

"Hmmm!" someone cleared their throat loudly behind them.

Harry didn't turn when Hermione and Ron did. He reached for the book and slipped it into his shirt and then turned. It was Snape. The man stood in the entryway of the library and stared at them. He looked around and then said quietly, "Bedtime, I think."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 The Love Potion

Ron and Hermione left the room ahead of Harry. He stood quietly waiting and watching Snape.

"Mr. Potter this is a very dangerous room to be in," Snape said stepping in. He strolled to the desk and glanced down at the papers rolled out on top of it. Harry stayed silent. The man wasn't snapping, growling or ordering him around. He was being, almost, pleasant.

"Professor," Harry began. "I need your help. There is a mystery here. I think if I solve it, I may have a way of destroying Vol….the Dark Lord." He stopped there waiting to see how the man would react.

Snape leaned against the desk. He didn't appear to be looking at the diagram under his hands but staring off into space. He finally turned to Harry. "What makes you think that there is any mystery to solve Potter?"

Harry shrugged, unwilling to disclose what he and Ron and Hermione had learned. He was willing to bargain; to give information for information. "You may be right and there is nothing here that needs to be discovered. I don't know why my mother and Sirius would return and wander through this house trying to send me a message. I'm only guessing that they are trying to tell me something that might help me. Do you think that's logical?" He watched Snape turn to him.

The man leaned against the desk but remained silent.

Harry took it as his cue to continue. "They died, your parents and my grandparents, the night of the ball. I think Sirius adopted me and left me this house because somehow he knew it would be important for it to remain in the Black family, even though he hated his family and everyone in it," he said it choosing his words carefully, trying very hard not to discuss the dark mark or anything that might enrage his teacher. "He gave me a name he hated. There had to be a reason for that."

Snape continued to stare, but his face didn't harden. "Since I know you so well Mr. Potter, then I will escort you to the room above…."

Harry held his breath. Snape had anticipated what he had intended to do next; explore the room that Madeleine Snape had been in, the room at the end of the hallway.

"On the condition that you not explore this house any further without being accompanied by me," Snape said, waiting, his eyes squinting into slits.

Harry nodded and stood. He walked through the double doors ahead of Snape who, with one swipe of his hand, put out the candles. He pulled the doors closed and touched them with his wand. Harry knew that they would not be able to enter that way again and was glad that he had taken the book.

They climbed the grand stairway together and silently. Harry took the turn and touched lamps again, as he had the day before, saying, LUMOS. The hall was silent and the ghosts settled. It was empty.

The dusty mirror ahead once again reflected his presence and that of the potion's master. _It's a strange sight_, Harry was thinking as he watched himself move down the hall with Snape. He couldn't begin to wonder what would make the man agree to such as thing, but he was relieved that he had.

They ended up at the mirror and stopped. Both of them looked at themselves in it. Harry turned to open the door on his immediate right and then impulsively swung back and reached for the mirror, palm flat.

"Harry!" Snape said and reached for his arm.

Having the man call him by his first name was more than enough to stop the motion. He looked at Snape in the mirror rather than directly.

"Mr. Potter," Snape continued, breathlessly, "It wouldn't be wise to do that."

Harry noticed that Snape looked paler than usual. He was looking at the mirror and not his reflection. Harry glimpsed a hint of fear flash across his face and then dissolve instantly.

"As long as you are in this house Mr. Potter, I will constantly remind you how dangerous it is. To step beyond this mirror would be…" he frowned and looked at it in its' entirety, " a foolish, terrible thing," he finished, his voice almost a whisper. His eyes, that had been unfocused moments before, dropped to Harry's in the mirror. "Do you understand? Under no condition should you touch this mirror."

Harry thought he was fast losing ground. His hand was on the knob to the bedroom and he nodded, "Yes, I understand." Snape nodded slowly and Harry opened the door.

The room was just as he had seen it through his mother's eyes. The exception was the years and years of neglect and dust that lay upon every surface. The bed was still unmade as if Snape had recently been pulled from it.

Harry stepped in and stood waiting. Snape stepped around him and walked in slowly. The atmosphere in the closed room was almost as heavy as the downstairs library. They both waited for drafts from the hall to bring in some air. Snape stood where he was and lit the lamps at the bedside tables and the overhead chandelier. The room looked as if it were sprinkled lavishly in gray powder.

Harry studied the floor. Here and there, he thought he could detect patches that looked blacker. He thought it was the trail that Madeleine Snape had made with her own blood.

"My mother came in that night," Harry began. "Your mother was sitting at your bedside. She knew my mother. She introduced herself, by saying that she was Madeleine Potter Snape. She asked her to take you away, but she also said that she had been waiting for her, waiting to show her something. That's when she…" Harry recalled the moment clearly in his mind, the moment Madeleine had cut her own wrist.

"Go on," Snape said, walking towards the center of the room and staring at the bed.

"She used her blood and there was blood already in that goblet," They both looked at the bedside table as if expecting to see the glass. "She dropped hers into it and then leaned over and dropped three drops into your mouth." Harry said it in a hushed voice. "She turned to my mother and said, "Speak the words, DEMORTUSS EQUIDEM. Drop three drops into his mouth. It is mixed with the blood of Lord Voldemort." Harry inhaled deeply and continued, " She said, 'When we took our pledge he held the glass of his own blood to our lips. I didn't swallow, but spat it into my wine. This and my blood, seal the charm.' Then, she said, 'It means: to die for your child. In a few minutes something horrible will take place and you should be gone from here. I'm going to ask you for a favor before you go Lily. You are a friend of my son. He was forced to take the dark mark and serve the Dark Lord. But you must remind him that he is not evil; that he has my blood in him. You must promise me that you will not let him follow this evil.'"

Harry waited and watched Snape. His back was to him and he couldn't see the look registered on his face.

"What else?" Snape asked quietly, "There was more."

Harry thought about it. The words would be forever etched in his brain as he had watched the scenario from his mother's past played out before him.

"What else?" Snape asked, again turning to him. "Word-for-word Potter, if you can."

Harry screwed up his brown and closed his eyes, repeating the words Madeleine spoke, "'You and I are now sisters, Lily. What I am about to face is worse than this and it cannot be stopped. Perhaps it would be better to die this way then to face a cruel death." Harry went on to described what happened after. He finally opened his eyes and studied Snape.

Snape turned and followed the blood trail across the carpet. "Was there anyone else in the room besides Black and Lily?"

Harry followed his eyes and shook his head, "No. There was your mother and mine and Sirius. Sirius came in at the end. Professor, when Sirius took you through the mirror, did you see what went on in the ballroom below?"

Snape turned on him, his eyes ablaze. Harry stepped back. Then Snape seemed to pull himself together and answered calmly, "Yes, I saw. I was barely conscious, but I saw. There is a stairway that leads from the mirror to the first floor and a hallway that runs through a false wall behind the mirrors in the ballroom. The mirrors are like windows on that side so that the entire room is visible from only that side."

"One-way mirrors," Harry said nodding. He looked at Snape who was frowning at the interruption. "Sorry, that's what muggles call them."

Harry dropped his head to look at the floor, afraid that Snape would stop talking. He didn't. The room seemed to mesmerize him and he went on, "Yes, I was there, along with Black. We watched what happened."

Harry glanced up. Snape was still looking at the room, puzzlement written on his face.

"Was Hector Black in the ballroom?" Harry asked. "Did you see him?"

Snape turned to him and frowned as if reviewing the scene in is own mind. "Black? Hector Black? No, he wasn't there."

Harry stared back.

Snape turned back to the room as if dismissing Harry's question. "The room appears to be left just as it was that night. The bedding is pulled back, my mother's luggage is here at the foot of the bed and partially packed," Snape said stepping to the ottoman that held the satchels. Harry had not noticed them before. "Everything appears to be here, unchanged, with one exception."

Harry studied the room again. It was hard to remember everything since the room was changed by the layers of filth and dust. He started at one side and looked carefully. Then he noticed two things; the fireplace seemed to be sitting out further on one side than the other. He knew from having looked at the floor plan that there was a hallway behind it. It appeared that someone had used it and hadn't shut it securely.

Secondly, when he turned and surveyed the rest of the room, with Snape watching him closely, he noticed that the bedside table was empty, "The glass," he said and looked at Snape. "The goblet with the potion in it. It's gone." He used the term potion instead of blood hoping that Snape would stay calm and communicative.

Snape nodded and studied the bedside table once again. At his feet, were the remains of his mother's luggage. He looked up and said, "It's time to go to bed Potter."

Harry was dismayed. "Professor. What do you think happened to the rest of the blood…the potion in the glass? Who would have taken it if everything in the room was untouched? Your mother wasn't in any condition to think about it or dispose of it. She…she left it sitting there on the table. I remember it distinctly!"

Snape frowned again and this time the old familiar look came back. "It's late and time to leave this."

Harry was growing angry. "Professor I gave you information. It's only fair that you answer some of my questions.

Snape nodded again and said, "You may ask me two questions. I will decide whether I wish to answer them or not."

Harry thought for a moment, wishing that he could ask a thousand questions. "Who would have taken the goblet?" Harry asked

Snape sighed and answered, "Kreacher."

"Kreacher?" Harry repeated surprised.

Snape nodded and looked at the bed again, "He was instructed to serve us that evening by Harriet Black. The house elves use the secret hallways that you saw in that floor plan on Hector's desk to move from room to room so that they can't be seen. I am guessing that Kreacher took the glass."

Harry pondered that for a moment before Snape looked up. "And your second question Mr. Potter?"

Harry longed to ask him more about the glass and Kreacher but he wanted more than ever to ask him about Henry and Elizabeth Potter. He screwed up his courage and asked, "What did my grandparents do to your mother? Did they abandon her like she said…" Snape's frown deepened and Harry stopped.

"That has nothing to do with this," Snape growled.

"I think it does," Harry said feeling angry and not caring if the man got mad at him. "Ever since I started at Hogwarts you have hounded me, belittled and embarrassed me. I wasn't even born yet. My mother saved you, my father risked his life to save you." Harry took a breath and went on. "My mother cared about you, your mother was my great Aunt. We have so many connections between us. Why do you hate me so much?"

Snape's eyes narrowed and Harry could see the shallow breathing and the flush of the face. He glared at him and then turned away.

Harry waited, hands clenched into fists, feeling frustrated and ready to storm out of the room.

Snape's shoulders drooped and he said quietly, "It's a little complicated to discuss this in the middle of the night, in this room, don't you think?"

Harry glanced around the room and relaxed. "Professor. My mother made a promise to you that night."

Snape turned once again to him.

Harry continued, "She said that if you ever needed her help all you'd had to do was ask."

Snape gasped, "You were there? In the tent?" His frown deepened and he seemed to collapse in on himself. He stepped back and grasped his chest as if in pain.

Harry nodded. "Professor…Snape, if you've never asked her before, maybe it's time to ask her now."

"Ask her?" Snape repeated. He seemed to be in a daze.

Harry reached out a hand as if to shake Snape's and said, "Ask her for help."

Snape reached for it, looking as if he were about to touch fire. He was frowning. Harry leaned in and took his hand. His eyes came up and studied Harry's. He turned and looked at the bed and said softly, "Lily?"

The room lightened. The two stood, their hands joined staring about them. The room changed, became clean, a replica of it's former self. They stood like two ghosts watching what lay before them.

Madeleine Snape stood at the window. The drapes were pulled back and the night was full of glittering stars. Music was playing below them and she was standing quietly gazing out. From their vantage point, Snape and Harry saw the fireplace swing out and a man bending his head and stepping out into the room. Harry could feel Snape grasp his hand in a vise-like grip. Harry had never seen the man but knew who it was, it was Hector Black.

Black stepped around the fireplace front and strode over to Madeline. He reached and grabbed her arm and held it out. It was dripping blood.

"What have you done Madeleine?" The tall, dark handsome man pulled a beautiful burgundy scarf from his vest pocket and wrapped the arm. "He'll kill us if he finds out!"

"Which one Hector?" Madeleine asked laughing. "Our new Lord and Master or my husband? Which is it to be?"

The man searched the room his eyes landing on the goblet at the bedside. "What did you do?" he gasped letting go of her arm and walking to the bedside. His eyes surveyed the crumpled bed sheets and looked up at her. "Where's Severus?"

"You can't have him now Hector. Not you or Brutus or Riddle can touch him now," she said easily. She approached him and dropped the kerchief on the floor as she walked. "I have protected him. He cannot be harmed. You can kill me but my son is safe from that monster."

Black studied the contents of the glass and then looked at her, his eyes narrowing, "What is this Madeleine? What does the potion do?" He reached for her arm again. It was still dripping blood down the front of her gown.

In his position as observer, Harry wondered how the woman could still be standing, let alone make it down the stairs and into the ballroom. He knew her to be dying before his eyes. By the time she reached the ballroom her heart would give out from having to pump so hard, to pump so little blood through her body.

Black gazed down into the glass. "Is His blood in here also?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. "Go ahead drink up Hector. Or haven't you had enough of his blood tonight?" She turned and started towards the door. In their position, she would walk past Harry and Snape within centimeters. She was looking directly at them.

Behind her Black stood looking at the contents of the goblet with a strange expression on his face. He glanced up and strode over and yanked her around by her wounded arm. "What was the spell? He demanded angrily. "What enchantment did you use?"

"It cannot be broken, Hector," she said wrestling her arm away and almost collapsing. She was a short distance away from Snape who watched with horror etched on his features. They both watched her face change. She stood straighter and turned to the man. "Drink up Hector. It is a Blood Incantation. If Voldemort tries to harm you it will rebound on him. That's what you want isn't it? That's what you've wanted all along, to take his place and rule the purebloods and the half-bloods." her smile was beguiling. "Take it my darling and we will rule together."

Harry watched in fascination as the man looked first at the goblet and then the woman who's smile was dazzling even in her state. Harry knew that she must be using the last energy she had to entice the man. He knew also the look of greed in the man's eyes as he listened to her.

Hector Black lifted the goblet to his lips and staring over the brim of it, he took a mouthful and swallowed. Almost immediately his eyes widened, his tongue stuck out as he gagged. He grasped his throat and reeled backwards. Unable to speak, his hand reached out at her. He was dead within seconds, his once handsome features twisted into a mask.

Madeleine Snape reached down. At her feet was a wand. "You pig!" she snarled staring down at the body. "Do you think I would let you live? You knew, more than anyone, that I had the gift of sight and yet you would never listen. And now, he has them all. I hope he kills them. They are down there on their knees to him, never thinking that he would turn on them and demand their allegiance. And you; you and Brutus, you would have had my son. You stood there and let Brutus torture him, let Voldemort mark him. You promised me that you would stop it. You said you loved me and you would stop him for me. But you are a liar and a coward Hector Black. To think I once thought you better than Brutus."

She waved the wand and lifted the body off the floor, floated it to the open hole in the fireplace and dropped it in the opening. She closed the entrance by swinging the fireplace front against the wall with the wand, not quite shutting it altogether. "But it is not to be my darling," she said, laughing in gasps. She turned, threw the wand on the coverlet of the bed and walked towards the door. As she passed, she did not turn and look but stared straight ahead. She opened the door and left.

Harry stared at the fireplace and then turned to Snape. The room darkened, and once again his nose tingled with the stray dust particles. He reached over and pulled his hand from the man's grasp.

They were once again alone in the room and it had returned to their eyes into the decaying neglect they had first entered. Harry looked at Snape who was still staring at the door. He stepped past him to the fireplace and pulled the façade of the mantel and fireplace front out. It swung out, the hinges squeaking in the silence of the room. Harry looked down and saw the skeleton of Hector Black leaning against the back wall. It was grinning at him and in its' hand was clutched a glass goblet with an inky black substance filling the bottom third of it.

Harry felt Snape at his back staring down at the skeleton. "Professor what did that mean? What was she showing us?" He twisted his head to look at Snape. "Do you know?"

Snape's shocked black eyes turned to him. "She murdered him."

Harry nodded, "Yes. She killed him. She did it to protect you." Harry glanced down again. "They were lovers. She tried to protect you every way she knew. When she knew that he would betray her and you, she poisoned him. But what has this got to do with me and Voldemort? What was she showing us?" Harry looked up at the ceiling and around the room in frustration, his hand still leaning on the mantle. "Mother what are you telling me?!"

An hour later they were in the kitchen. The clock on the mantle struck one and the tea kettle whistled. Harry poured the tea into two cups and sat down. Snape was sitting rigidly in a chair, his hands folded in his lap. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular.

When Harry sat and started sipping Snape spoke, "My mother was really the one who had the most skill in mixing potions, not I." Harry's head came up, his lips pursed, blowing on the hot liquid. He sat it down slowly and waited. "I knew that she was seeing Hector Black. There were always meetings either here in the Black mansion or in our home. Initially, my father and Hector and other's; Victor Malfoy, Roland Crabbe; others," Snape's eyes swung towards Harry, "They thought to control Tom Riddle. That night of the Ball it was no different. They thought since there were so many of them they could control him. They didn't anticipate that he would use any means available to him to force their compliance. He used the Protean charm and marked each of us. Any who failed to comply were killed immediately."

Snape pushed the tea away and continued, "My mother was a gifted seer. She predicted his take-over. She warned Hector, to no avail, as you saw."

"What was in the potion?" Harry asked. "Was it just poison? If it was, why didn't it poison you or my mother later when she used it?"

Snape shook his head slowly. "Hector meant to use it to protect himself. I think he thought that if he took it then he could defeat Riddle and take his place. Black was like that; he was a greedy man."

Harry nodded. He'd seen for himself the greed in the man's eyes. "Professor, do you think that if the Dark Lord tried to kill you now that the potion would still protect you?" he asked and watched Snape carefully.

Snape looked at him thoughtfully and answered, "I don't know Potter. It doesn't do us any good to think about it. That substance in the glass that Black held, and the vial that your mother had are long since gone. I cannot recreate a potion without having a drop of it and knowing the ingredients. I don't even know that it is the same thing. My mother could have switched the contents. She could have put a poison in the glass."

Harry shook his head and said, "I was there before that. She didn't. It was the same glass."

Snape shook his head.

The door opened silently and Mariah stuck her head in. She was dressed in her nightgown. Bantu followed, jumping on the table and walking the length of it to sit down in front of Harry. Mariah sat down and Harry watched as she and Snape looked at each other. He could see their affection growing for one another. He turned away and stared at the cat's green eyes and then, he knew.

He looked up and gasped, "Professor. It was a love potion!" Harry stood up abruptly and his chair shot away from his legs. "Dumbledore told me when I was in his office at end of term. The prophecy…it all comes together!"

Snape frowned, and asked, "What are you saying Potter?"

"One of the lines of the Prophecy. It says: I would have a 'power that the Dark Lord Knows not'-." Harry gasped excitedly, " Dumbledore told me that Voldemort could not possess me because he couldn't bear to stay inside someone so full of that force." Harry looked up and stared at Snape, " He said that it was my heart that saved me. Well it was your mother and my mother who saved us, because they loved us. Hector died because he drank a potion and he was full of greed. It was the same potion, but not meant for him. The incantation is about protecting someone else, not being greedy and protecting yourself! Your mother said to my mother; 'Demortuss Quidem, means: to die for your child.'"

"A blood oath," Snape said, staring at him as if thinking very hard, " and a love potion."

Harry nodded energetically and glanced at Mariah. She was flushing red and Harry noticed that she was staring at Snape.

Harry ignored her and said, "No matter what else happened that night Professor," Harry touched his heart and the book that lay beneath his clothes, "my mother is giving us a clue." He turned and followed Bantu out the door leaving Snape and Mariah behind.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen The Labyrinth

Harry tolerated the nervous smile of Molly Weasley the next day at breakfast and sat down with Ron and Hermione at the table. They glanced up and barely nodded as if to say they had things they wanted to talk about, but not in the presence of Ron's mother.

He felt exhausted as he accepted the toast and sausages that Mrs. Weasley slid on his plate but attacked the meal with energy. He didn't want to alienate her anymore than he had already. The very fact that they had a séance that had put her son in danger, no matter how much she cared about him, didn't mean that she wouldn't be angry with him. All conversation about leaving had evidently been put aside for the time being.

"We're having visitors this afternoon Harry," Hermione said. "Mariah said that some of the _kumpania_ would be visiting."

"_Kumpania_?" he asked, puzzled.

She nodded vigorously and explained, "That's what the gypsies, sorry, Roma, call the caravan they're in. Mariah says that they want to come to talk about something. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn more about them. They are so mysterious." She looked up at him with bright eyes. "I hear they have magic that no one else knows about.

"Hmph!" Molly Weasley sat down to her tea and grumbled, "No one really knows much about them Hermione." Harry noticed that she looked worried. "But we best watch them closely. All of these dangerous people in the house!" She went on to stir her tea vigorously and frown at the table.

"Harry, you done yet?" Ron asked, twitching his head. Harry knew it was a signal for them to talk.

They left Hermione engaging Mrs. Weasley in conversation and slipped down the hall.

"Where is everyone Ron?" Harry asked. He felt comfortable leaning up against the hall wall and speaking since the portrait of Mrs. Black was now quiet.

"Snape's been in that wretched library since before I got up," Ron answered. He checked the hall, "Don't know where Mariah and Lupin went but we suspect they went to the Roma camp. Don't know how they got there but…" he headed up the stairs and Harry followed. "I know something is up. Mum is in a right state of mind." He turned to Harry on the stairs. "It's not because of the séance. Think she's over that. It's something else. Lupin got the Daily Prophet, showed it to Snape and then took off with it. There was something in it and Hermione and I don't know what."

They climbed the stairs and went back to their bedroom.

Ron continued, "I have something to show you Harry," he said, pulling a scroll out form under his bed and unrolled it on top of the bed.

"Ron!" Harry studied it. The parchment was new and the drawing new as well. He recognized it. "It's the first floor of the house! How did you ever?"

Ron grinned sheepishly, "Well I sort of memorized it and then drew it this morning before you got up."

"You did?" Harry gasped. He looked again. The blueprint was very well done. "Excellent! Hermione will be pleased too. I got the book." He pulled it out from under his pillow.

They grinned at one another.

"There's more news Harry," Ron said, going down to his knees to look at the floor plan spread out on top of the bed covers. "Mariah asked permission for us to go to the Roma campsite. Snape agreed. It'll be a chance for us to get out of here for awhile. You game?"

Harry thought about it and frowned. Ron caught the look. "Don't have to if you don't want to. But it's getting a bit thick around here what with Snape hanging around like a vulture and mum moaning about the family. We can take this with us and maybe Mariah will ask one of the Roma's about it and maybe the book, too. Everyone keeps saying how clever they are."

Harry studied Ron and nodded slowly, thinking, _If I leave I could miss something important. If I don't leave, I'll be mental inside of a week._

"By the way, Harry" Ron continued, "Mum's planning a birthday party for you. It's supposed to be a surprise, but I have to tell you that her surprises are usually awful. Snape thinks it's too dangerous to have one. That was after he saw the Daily Prophet. Anyway she was going to have Tonks, Dumbledore and Mad-eye, AND the family. I think if she does that then we're safe, I mean they're all really brilliant wizards, Aurors and everything." He looked worried and sat back on his heels. "How could we not be safe?"

Harry thought about it. He hadn't given his birthday much thought. "It's a ways off yet Ron."

"So what are we going to do today?" Ron asked, bent over the floor plan again.

Harry told him about the vision he and Snape had and watched the boy lean back and stared at him wide-eyed. "I promised Snape I wouldn't explore the house, but it doesn't mean you can't. I think there's a passage to the library that will get us in even if he seals the doors. We might need to look there again. I think Hermione will need to study this book and maybe we can look for the potion that were used by my mother and Snape's mother." Harry sat back on the floor with his back to the bed and stared at the wall. He was once again looking at the empty frame that had held Phineas Nigellus' portrait. His eyes narrowed. "And it might be helpful if we could find a portrait of Sirius in the house, although I imagine the Blacks removed any just like they removed his name from the tapestry that was hanging downstairs."

He stood and walked to the portrait. He recalled that he had not seen Sirius' great-great grandfather since he had left the portrait that hung in Dumbledore's office. It occurred to him at that moment just how much information Dumbledore accumulated over time from Nigellus about what was going on in the Black mansion.

"I can do that Harry," Ron said getting up to stand beside him. They were staring at the empty picture frame when Hermione tapped on the door and stepped in. Harry repeated most of what he had told Ron to her.

Hermione accepted the book from him with some reverence as he told her what he wanted to learn from it. " I can do that, Harry."

"Did you find out what the Daily Prophet article was about?" Ron asked.

Hermione noddedand said, "There was an article about a break-in and robbery at a muggle residence; Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging."

They both turned to Harry waiting for his reaction.

Hermione added, "They weren't hurt Harry, but the paper did report your muggle address. Your room was ransacked. Whoever did it, took everything in the room."

Harry's thoughts went to the Dursleys. He wondered what they were thinking now that their house had been robbed, even if it had been his room. "They took everything?" he asked.

She nodded and said "Your aunt and uncle listed some of the items that were missing including a new television set and stereo." She smiled sheepishly.

Harry laughed out loud, shaking his head, retorting, "I doubt they got that Hermione, since I didn't have any of that." He frowned trying to think what he'd left behind. Snape had packed his belongings in his Hogwarts trunk and had brought it to #12 Grimmauld Place the very night they had arrived. He hadn't even looked through his possessions, which were very few. Most of the contents would not be used until he returned to Hogwarts. "Don't know what they could have gotten, Hermione. Why would they print it anyway?"

Both Hermione and Ron laughed, nervously. "You name is back in the news again, Harry. It has been since Cornelius Fudge told everyone that Voldemort was back," Hermione said. "There's a constant news story about you or Dumbledore or someone connected to you. Even Ron and I have been mentioned." Ron blushed when she said it. She went on, "They've had candid interviews with everyone that's ever talked to you and a play-by-play of what happened in the Atrium at the Ministry. Honestly, Harry, they've gone overboard with it all. But you should know that it's been much more positive than it was last year. People are very supportive."

Harry frowned. He'd been afraid of the notoriety and worse, having his friends involved in it. "Listen, I'm sorry about that," he said feeling some anger.

Ron shook his head and said, "Harry, it's our decision. Hermione and I talked about it. We knew you were feeling bad about us going to the Ministry of Magic with you, trying to rescue Sirius. But you can't leave us behind you know. We're your friends and you'd do it for us, if it came to it. It's our decision, mate."

Harry nodded, but thought they were both missing the point. Someone was desperately trying to locate him even to the point of robbing the Dursleys and taking his belongings. If he was so much in the news and that person, _Voldemort's Death Eaters, more than likely, _he thought, had even contacted his friends, then everyone was in danger. Now, he understood why the Weasley's had been split up and sent to different locations. It seemed that Dumbledore was busy trying to protect everyone.

Hermione reached over and put her arm through his, the other held the book. "Come on let's look through this and see what we can find."

Harry allowed her to pull him to the bed. He turned to her and said, "You know, I thought I could be strong without putting either of you in harm's way. I didn't know that it would be so hard without you both. I'm really glad you're here." They both smiled at him.

Hermione turned to Ron with a 'what are you waiting for look', and he did a quick salute and left the room carrying his map.

Two hours later they had gone through every page in the very thin book and had found nothing of use. The spells appeared to be very simple; common household spells, for removing stains from a bathtub or marinating a roast. Harry had grown bored with it before their first hour was over. He struggled to keep interested as Hermione would mumbled the incantation or spell to herself and stare off into space thinking about it; or say something like, "Oh this is interesting Harry."

He'd ask what was interesting and she tell him something like, "It says that house elves have strict rules about human incantations and their uses. Most of which they can't use or are forbidden to use. Of course they can't use wands, but there's no need of them for most of these spells." She leaned over her knees, her back propped against the headboard with Harry sprawled at the foot of the bead. "Here's one. It says that many times just reversing the words of the incantation will bring about a reversed effect." She thumbed through the book.

"Does it say anything about love charms or blood incantations?' Harry asked for the tenth time.

She shook her head, "There's nothing in here about that, Harry, and I've looked twice now. I also looked to see if there's anything about humans using these spells and there isn't. The truth is Harry there's not many here that would be very useful."

He nodded and shot to his feet. "Would you mind going through it again. I'm going downstairs to see if anyone is around. Ron's not back yet either. If Mrs. Weasley is worried about what we're up to I'll try and keep her busy so she won't check on him. I'm surprised she hasn't looked in on us already." He watched as Hermione nodded without looking up. She was taking notes from the little book, absorbed in writing things down on a piece of parchment.

Harry descended the stairs and quietly walked the short distance to the entrance to the Gallery and foyer. It was now clean of dust. A light shone form the open double doors. He didn't have to cross the floor to know that Snape was probably at the desk. _You're looking for it too aren't you Snape? _he thought, retreating back to the main house. He knew that Snape would be looking for the spell his mother had used.

Harry walked down the hall and heard voices coming from the sitting room. He moved slowly so that he could make out who was there. He could hear men's voices, and then a sudden cry. It was Lupin's.

_Remus! _he thought, startled. It was a strangled cry. Harry stepped in, wand drawn and saw his friend sitting across from a group of men dressed in odd clothing. He knew they had to be the Romanies. Mariah was sitting next to Lupin on the sofa and Harry saw that he had his face hidden in his hands and his shoulders were heaving as if he were sobbing. The three men that sat uncomfortably in the stiff formal chairs were all smiling. The one in front and center had pulled out a pipe and lit it. He looked as if he were having a good time.

"Remus?" Harry asked stepping into the room, his heart beating wildly. He crossed the room quickly, thinking his friend was in pain or hurt. Mariah looked up at him as he entered and smiled. She had a hand on Lupin's shoulders patting it gently.

She smiled at Harry and reached for his hand, saying "It is good news, Harry. Remus is just a little shocked that's all."

Harry walked around the edge of the couch and stood in front of Lupin staring down at him. He was sobbing, gasping intermittently. Harry looked again at Mariah uncertain of what was happening.

She smiled, "This is Yuri and his friends. They are part of the caravan that have invited me to travel with them." She patted Remus as he blew his nose and started to pull himself together. "They have had good news for Remus. We will have a celebration tonight in the _Kampania_ and you and Hermione and Ron will join us.

Harry looked at Lupin and saw him look up finally, a smile peeking through the tears and flushed-red cheeks, and swollen eyes. Harry frowned and said, "What news? What's the good news, Remus?"

The man sat shaking his head, his mouth hanging open and apparently unable to say a word.

"My friends," Mariah said looking at Lupin and smiling, "can cure Remus of being a werewolf."

Harry turned to Lupin who was gulping in large breaths of air and wiping his eyes. He looked up and said tearfully, "Can you imagine Harry. There is a cure!"

Harry extended his hand, which was accepted and he pulled Lupin into a standing position. They were hugging and laughing and at the same time he was congratulating im, "Oh my gosh, that's wonderful!"

Lupin tried a small smile and then broke into laughter. Harry had never seen him laugh. It took years off his face and Harry was reminded of the picture he had of Remus in his photo album; the one with James and Sirius. They had all looked very young.

The thought sobered him instantly and Lupin noticed. "Harry what is it? Are you alright?" he snuffed and held him out, his hands on his shoulders.

Harry shook his head and grinned, "Nothing Remus. I am just really happy for you."

"You know what this means Harry. We could be a proper family," Lupin said smiling.

Once again Harry was reminded of the words that Sirius had spoken when they were walking through the tunnel with Sirius, having come from the Shrieking Shack. His heart had risen up then and he had hope. He now looked at Lupin and felt the gentle tug of longing. Here was another of his parent's friends. Someone he cared about who was making the same offer. Harry smiled back and nodded slowly. _Not again_, he thought. _I can't do this again. _"Yes, that will be great Remus," he said.

Lupin studied his face, and added, "Of course, we haven't talked about it yet, but I thought…" he didn't finished and seemed to be waiting for Harry to respond.

"It's alright, Remus," Harry said nodding. "It's just that sometimes I try not to think very far ahead."

Lupin looked at him thoughtfully and nodded too. "I understand that feeling Harry, I really do." He smiled again and turned to the men who were now standing. "Let me introduce you."

--------

Harry climbed the stairs back to his room, with heavy heart. Something was bothering him and he couldn't put his finger on it. He was feeling happy for Remus. It was astounding. For the first time since childhood, Lupin might lead a normal life. He stepped into his room and found it empty. Then he realized that he really didn't want to leave the house. He was worried that his mother might try again to reach him and if he left he would miss it. They hadn't found the potion and even knowing what was in it wouldn't help him. He still had no weapon, nothing that would stop Voldemort. And, he was feeling desperate and angry.

He didn't hear when the door opened and Ron stepped through.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron said. He stood in the doorway covered from head to toe in dust as black as coal. Only the whites of his eyes shone out from his head.

Harry was laying on the bed pointing his wand at the canopy. He'd been thinking how useless his own wand was against Voldemort and feeling cornered. He was startled when the specter appeared in the doorway. "Ron!"

"You wouldn't believe it Harry," Ron crossed over and sat at the end of the bed. "There are miles of hidden hallways and rooms that are all over this place." He squinted and coughed, producing a handkerchief. "It's a labyrinth of rooms and hallways and stairs."

Harry sat up and asked, "What did you find?"

"Everything, Harry," Ron grimaced, "spiders and worse, I think. No one's been through them for years. I found an entrance to the library," he said and wiped away some of the grime. "I'm gonna shower and then maybe later I can draw a diagram. It might take a while. What do you think they were used for?"

Harry stared at his friend thoughtfully. "I don't know Ron. Seems a bit excessive even for Hector Black, doesn't it, just to spy on people"

Ron nodded, yanking his shirt off and heading for the bathroom. "One thing's for sure. He knew what was going on in every corner of this place. I also found the stairway that led up to that mirror on the second floor."

Harry shot to his feet and ran to the bathroom door. Ron was already in the shower. "Did you walk through it?" he shouted.

"What?" Ron gurgled.

Harry pressed his face to the door and shouted again, "Did you walk through it?" He suddenly felt terrified.

"No," came the response. "I just found the stairs."

Harry closed his eyes and took a breath. He thought of the break-in at the Dursleys and said very softly, _please mother, Sirius, you've got_ to _give me more. Voldemort's getting closer and we're running out of time._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen Destinies Children

Bantu sat at his feet, looking up at him as he stood at the door resting his forehead against it. Harry looked down. The green eyes were staring at him, half-closed. The cat was making a throaty purr and watching him.

"What is it Bantu?" Harry asked. "Are you looking at a dead man? Feeling sorry for me are you?" He turned and leaned against the door and slid to the foot of it. He reached out and stroked the black fur and the purr became deeper. "If I don't find a way to kill him then he's going to kill me. He's getting closer Bantu , I can feel it."

Harry looked up and listened. Normally the cat was never further from Mariah then a few feet. This time the cat seemed to be alone. Harry could hear the water running as Ron finished his shower.

Bantu meowed, stood and went to the door. It was partly open. Harry watched and then said, "Go on, it's open."

The cat returned to sit in front of him, stand and repeat the performance. The tail flicked and the cat waited, turning its' green eyes to Harry.

"What's the matter," Harry asked getting to his feet, "can't find Mariah?"

The cat shot out of the door and down the hall and then waited. Harry opened the door and stared. The cat walked a few paces, turned and then waited again.

"Alright, I'm coming," Harry said, closing the door behind him gently.

The cat ran down the full length of the stairs and took a left turn. Harry followed and stopped at the bottom to listen. Voices came from the kitchen, it sounded like Mrs. Weasley and Lupin. He could also hear, more distinctly, voices in the sitting room. Mariah was there along with the Roma men. Harry frowned and turned to the hallway that led to the Gallery. The cat was waiting in the entrance, standing and flicking its' tail.

Harry shook his head, _If you're hunting mice and I'm following you then, I've gone round the bend, _he thought. He stepped into the foyer and saw that the doors to the library were closed and the lights put out. It was mid-day but the area was shrouded in dim light. The windows were covered in the dirt of years and let very little of it in.

Harry saw the cat take the stairs of the Grand stairway, two at a time. Midway, it stopped and waited for him. Since Snape had cleaned the gallery it was much harder to walk across the marble expanse quietly. Harry mouthed, _I'm coming, alright?_ to the cat who seemed to know what he was saying.

He crossed the floor and went up the stairs behind the tail that was held jauntily aloft by the cat. It stopped momentarily at the top turned left and went down the hall. The corridor was even darker than the large room below. He felt his way along until he could begin to see his reflection in the mirror at the end of the hall.

He maneuvered through the tables and chairs that lined the hallway until he reached it. Bantu was sitting in front of it looking at her own reflection.

Harry stopped in front of it and stood staring once again at his own reflection. "What is so special about you?" he asked the mirror. He was hoping that he would see an image or a figure of Sirius as he had before. But this time there was nothing. He reached out automatically to touch the surface and a deep voice spoke from behind him,

I knew you'd return," the voice said. "I knew that your curiosity would bring you back here."

Harry glanced up and over his shoulder. It was Snape standing behind him. "Professor!" he gasped. The man's face was unreadable.

"Potter, I thought that I was clear. The mirror is dangerous." He said it softly and Harry dropped his hand but stared at Snape's reflection instead of turning to him.

"Why?" he asked. He stood looking in the mirror, could hear music drifting up from somewhere in the house. It sounded like Mariah playing.

Snape stepped up beside him. "It is a device like a time-turner," he answered. "I think you know what they are?" The famous eyebrow arched and Snape turned to him. Harry nodded without speaking. He didn't want to give Hermione's secret away.

Snape turned back to the mirror and spoke in a low drone, "This is a different variety. Time is changed over a period of years instead of minutes or hours."

Harry looked at the mirror, _A time-turner! _and the image of Sirius standing before him as a young child came to mind immediately.

"Professor!" Harry gasped and held his hands, palms out in front of it. "If it's a time-turner, I could go back a month. I could go back and rescue Sirius, or you could stop him from going to the Department of Mysteries to rescue me!" Harry studied the mirror, his eyes bright with anticipation, so absorbed he wasn't aware that he was staring into his own eyes.

Snape shook his head. "No, Potter. This mirror is of a different variety. It shows the future; years into the future."

"The future?!" Harry exclaimed.

Snape nodded. "My mother knew about this mirror and yet she also knew that the only way for Black and I to escape was to go through the mirror and take the route through the house. My mother was a gifted seer, perhaps not as talented as Mariah, but she was gifted." Snape stared at Harry. "She knew what we would see when we stepped through, and what we would see through the 'one-way' mirrors below. The ones that are near the ballroom. "

Harry turned once again and asked, hesitantly, "What did you see when you stepped through the mirror Professor?"

Snape looked at him for a long time and then answered, "We saw our deaths, at least that is what I saw. I am sure that Sirius Black saw the same thing. Hector Black used this mirror," Snape looked at it, "I think he saw that Voldemort was going to take over and become the wicked, evil monster he has become. Hector was a greedy man and I think he was trying to change the future so that he could stop Voldemort and take his place. He wanted the power for himself."

Harry turned to the mirror a frown on his face. He looked at the entire mirror again and stepped back.

Snape continued, "I could not stop Sirius from going to the Department of Mysteries.

I could not stop his sacrifice anymore than I could stop my mother's. I think he knew that to not go to the Department of Mysteries and try and rescue you, would mean your death. Many things would have changed if he had survived. The information about the prophecy would not have been revealed…there would have been many repercussions. But I pleaded with him. We stood there in the hall below and I told him that he was going to his own death. He refused to stay behind." He glanced over to see what Harry was doing. "Yes, I was here in the house trying to persuade him to stay."

Snape once again studied the glass, and said, softly, "No one knew that night that we had stepped through this glass, not even Dumbledore. Not until you had that vision of my mother." Snape stepped back and turned once again to Harry. "There is a price to pay for using something this dark and evil. Hector paid the price, as did Sirius. As have I."

Harry stared up at his potion's master and frowned, "You saw your own death?"

Snape replied, "I saw myself dying trying to save you from Voldemort. I saw it back then," he turned his head to look at the mirror, "when Sirius pulled me through. However, I was almost unconscious and the details are unclear. I have waited all these years to stand in this hallway and speak to you, knowing that my life will come to an end soon." He frowned as if thinking about it again for the thousandth time.

Harry held his breath and swallowed hard. "Is that why you hate me? Because you saw yourself dying to save me from Voldemort?"

Snape stared at the mirror as if he hadn't heard and then turned back slowly. "I saw it all happening again. Another Potter getting it all. My cousin, James and his wonderful family, his friends- everything that I never had and never knew. My uncle, your grandfather Henry, was a good man but I always thought he didn't fight hard enough to protect my mother. Then, when I stepped through this mirror…" his own hand went up, the elongated pale fingers almost touching the surface, "I saw Lily. I saw her marry James. I loved her and she should have been mine, and then she had you and I saw her die to save you." Snape turned his black eyes on Harry. "I was seventeen years old and I saw my life laid out before me; a ruin. I hated you the moment I laid eyes on you."

Harry stared back.

"You walked through the doors of Hogwarts," Snape went on. "I had not given it much thought, had forgotten that it was your eleventh year. And there you were. I saw you. You looked like your father. You were there with your little friends and I saw it happening again."

"Is there nothing that you can do to change what's about to happen," Harry asked, looking at the mirror once again. He was feeling confused and tired. He could only imagine what it must have been like for Sirius and for Snape after looking through the mirror. They had seen their destinies and even his. It seemed all so hopeless. "You know the future and you can do nothing?"

Snape shook his head, "I have spent a lifetime trying. I have served the Dark Lord so that I could find a way. Nothing I have ever done has changed the course laid out before me after I stepped through this mirror. It is my destiny."

Harry stared at Snape's reflection and felt a creeping horror rise to his heart. "You knew my mother and father would die?"

Snape nodded and stepped back into the dark and turned to walk down the hallway. his voice drifted back in the darkness. "I tried to stop it from happening and failed. I could not stop her from dying and I loved her more than my own life."

Harry watched the retreating back of the man as he walked down the hallway. He stood staring at the mirror until he heard Hermione calling for him. He hurriedly wiped away the tears that ran down his face.

----------------------------------------------------

Harry sat on the bottom step of the stairs leading to his bedroom and couldn't bring himself to go up and tell Ron or Hermione what Snape had just told him. He hadn't even dared to ask if Voldemort had been successful in killing him and he no longer wanted to join the party for the evening or speak to anyone. Then, Mariah came down the hall and sat on the step beside him. Bantu sat at her feet and watched the front door.

"I have come to know you Harry," she said. "I can see in your face great pain and misery. Will you talk to me the way you have before?"

Harry held his head in his hands and slowly spilled the story out as Snape had told it. He told her of the vision in the room and Madeleine murdering Hector Black. A half hour passed and he had finally said it all.

"Ah," she said nodding, "That is why he protects his heart. Remember Harry when I told you, the night that he came for you, that there was a mystery that you shared. It was before I knew that I was a witch," she laughed a little and shook her head. "It is still hard to believe, but Yuri says that the Roma don't think it's out of the ordinary."

Harry turned to her and she patted him on the back, speaking softly, "Your teacher, your Professor holds back his heart. He has never had a family or friends and is afraid to have them, because he believes that he will lose it all in the end. He has carried this burden all his life." She shook her head and shivered, saying, "Now, I know what the drawbacks are to this world."

"He says that he's spent his whole life trying to change what's going to happen," Harry said.

She studied his face. "He says that he is going to die saving you; that is not such a bad thing, Harry. You are worth saving."

"So is he Mariah," Harry's face crumpled and he feared that he would burst into tears again. "So many people have suffered, so many lives lost."

"Yes, one life should not be sacrificed for another. Did you know that he cares a great deal about you? She asked a tiny smile curling her lips. "Yes. He doesn't know that you care about him either."

Harry gazed at her and searched his own thoughts. _Care about Snape? Do I?_

"It's too bad what happened can't be reversed," she murmured looking at him sadly.

"What can't be reversed?" Hermione asked coming down the stairs. Harry and Mariah looked up at her. She was dressed for the evening celebrations and crouched down on the step behind them.

Harry leaned over and summarized what they had been talking about. Hermione's eyes grew big as Harry explained what had happened an hour before.

"Oh Harry," she said commiserating. "How dreadful. To think that you would know what your life would be like and then not be able to change it! To bad he couldn't do what it said in that book we found."

"What did it say Hermione?" Harry asked puzzled trying to recall everything she had talked about. She had droned on for a long time and he'd lost interest.

"You know," she repeated, "where it says most charms can be reversed by saying the spell backwards, at least that's true for house-elf charms. When Mariah said it can't be reversed, that was what was on my mind."

They sat in silence listening to a hall clock ticking off the time. Mariah suddenly grabbed Harry's arm. "What if he did walk through the mirror again, only this time from the back-side? Would it reverse his misfortunes?" Mariah asked. "Is that possible in this world?"

The three stared at one another.

"Go get Ron," Harry exclaimed, leaping to his feet. Hermione fled up the stairs and Mariah stood waiting. "We've got to find him Mariah."

"What are you going to do?" Mariah asked.

Ron thundered down the stairs after Hermione. He was also dressed for the celebrations.

"You've got to go back through the hidden hallways Ron. Mariah's going to tell Snape that you got lost in one of the hidden corridors. When he starts after you, you've got to lead him to those stairs," Harry was saying.

Ron looked unhappy, "I just got cleaned up Harry? Why would I want to lead Snape a merry-goose chase. He'll kill me!"

Mariah was already headed down the hall looking for Snape. Hermione grabbed Ron's arm. "We'll explain later. You must get him to step through the glass from the other side. It's soooooo important Ron. You can't make a mistake. But you mustn't, for any reason, step through yourself."

Harry was nodding. "We'll be on the other side when he comes through!" He took his friends arm. "This is life and death Ron. It's that important!" Harry gripped his arm. "Take my invisibility cloak. It's in my trunk."

Ron looked at both of them and headed back up the stairs trudging as he went. "Ok, tell him that you heard my voice on the other side of the wall between the kitchen and the main hall. I think you've both gone mental!"

Hermione and Harry stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched him. They turned to each other and headed for the foyer and Grand Gallery.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen The Silver Bullet

Harry and Hermione stood in front of and just to the side of the mirror at the end of the hallway. It was now almost completely dark and it was almost impossible to see their own reflection. Hermione had taken his hand, almost too nervous to stand alone.

"Harry what happens if this makes things worse?" Hermione asked her lips inches away from his ear. "We don't know what will happen."

"No, we don't Hermione. Still, no matter what it does I'm the one who's responsible for making the decision to do it," Harry said, studying the mirror and then the door that led to the bedroom where Madeleine Snape died.

He continued, "I still don't understand why his mother would have insisted that they take the stairs behind this mirror. She was a seer, Hermione, she would have known that Severus would have watched her die- murdered by Voldemort- possibly even seen his own death. What kind of thing is that to do to your son that you're supposed to love?"

"Yes," Hermione agreed snuggling closer to him in the dark speaking softly, " I think though, she didn't want him to become evil. By watching Voldemort kill her in such a horrible way, it allowed him to make a choice. Each time he was driven to do evil he had that to remember. It would have been the hardest thing she could have done I think. Murdering Hector Black and sacrificing her own life would have been easier in comparison."

"But she doomed him to years of knowing what was going to happen to him. Harry growled and leaned against the hall wall, watching the mirror. " Even if I don't like him I have to feel sorry for him He was right to be angry at our family, too. He never got anything."

Harry listened to the noises in the house, whispering his thoughts to her. "My father and he were cousins and yet my dad treated him so badly. He knew more than I have ever known about what was going on at that time; that Brutus Snape was a horrible man who treated his wife and son terribly and yet my dad made it worse at school. How could they have done that? How could Sirius…" Harry choked at the thought and stopped.

Hermione shook her head and whispered a reply, "Snape was so horribly wounded. Sirius too. Remember Sirius ran away from this family when he was sixteen. It is a wonder that either of them were capable of human emotion or love. Their families were the worst. I think that your mother saw something that no one else did in all of them. Severus was not his father's son, he wasn't like Brutus. And what's really obvious is that Sirius hated anything that reminded him of his own home. They were two sons that were helpless to change what their fathers were. I mean can you imagine living in this house?" Hermione stared back down the long dark hallway. "Your mother found the best in all of them and they loved her for it. I think you have to forgive your father too Harry. They weren't much older then we are now. Who knows what life was like for them."

Harry remembered having thought the very same thing about Sirius when he saw him as a child in the mirror.

"What's clear is that Snape's mother loved him. It's just that he doesn't seem very capable of it himself. You saw him, he turned Mariah away." Hermione stepped back from the mirror. Noises were now coming from behind it. "It makes sense now. I think they are coming."

"How Hermione? How does it make sense?" Harry asked watching the mirror and their reflection in it.

"He saw his own death, Harry. What do you think that would do to any of us?" Hermione answered. "Sirius saw himself spending twelve years in Azkaban and then dying shortly after.

Harry nodded. They heard a distant shout and thumping. Molly Weasley and Remus were running up and down hallways banging on the walls trying to locate Ron. Snape had disappeared into the library after Mariah had located him and told him what had happened.

They both turned and looked, Mariah was quickly coming towards them with a lit candle. It glowed eerily in the reflection of the glass almost as if the mirror were stealing some of the light. Bantu followed her and took a position on the other side of the mirror.

"It's working she said," her eyes gleaming. "I can feel something important is going to happen. I just feel it!"

"Where are the Roma?" Hermione asked.

Mariah looked back down the hall, "They will come if needed. They don't much like this house, it is full of the dead. Roma don't like the dead. They think that the dead can come back and possess them."

Hermione and Harry stared at her as she stood in front of the mirror. That's exactly what Harry's mother had done in a way and Harry felt nervous. The noises were getting closer. They could hear Ron's voice but could not make out the words. Harry was thinking he would have to reach out and pull Mariah off to the side when suddenly there was a loud thump and she stepped neatly away and let Snape's falling body land at her feet.

She was the first to kneel down and roll him to his back. His eyes were open but staring.

"Severus," she spoke gently, "I'm here my love. Wake up from your dream you are here with me."

Minutes went by and they watched in fascination. Suddenly, his eyes rolled her way and he frowned slightly as if just waking and seeing her face for the first time. "Mariah?"

"Yes, love," she said and sat the candle on the floor and put one hand under his head.

Harry heard Hermione gasp about the same instant he saw Snape's face. The man's complexion was almost ruddy and much different than the pasty look he normally wore. He looked as if twenty years had been removed. The hair was silky black and short, the eyes warm and laughing. The transformation was dramatic and unexpected. He was helped to a sitting position and Harry and Hermione crouched down beside Mariah. She held the candle up to his face and searched it as if finding a long lost love.

Then something unexpected happened that made Harry rock back on his heels, and stop the fall with the palm of his hands; Snape laughed.

Mariah smiled and turned to Harry and Hermione. "He has been given back his life. Your mother and his mother have done all of this to remind him that he is not evil."

"I will not die!" he exclaimed.

Mariah grinned and patted his chest. He grabbed her unexpectedly and planted a kiss on her lips. She drew back gasping and stopped him from doing it again. "Yes, dear man, but first we must explain so that these two will understand."

Snape caught sight of Harry and Hermione and gasped, "I didn't know that I could walk through from the other side. I didn't know…!"

Harry studied his face and understood immediately what Mariah was going to say to them. His mother had made a promise to Madeleine that she would remind Severus that he was not evil. They had both come through, shown them the visions in order to keep that promise.

He sat back against a chair and closed his eyes. _Mother you're not coming back are you? You can't give me a weapon to fight Voldemort,_ he thought with a sinking heart.

Hermione watched Snape and Mariah talking and turned to look at Harry's face.

"What is it Harry?" she looked worried. "What's wrong?"

He turned to her and shook his head unable to speak.

Later, down in the sitting room with Ron, Molly and Remus present Mariah sat next to Severus on the couch and explained, "It was not a love potion and a blood potion together. It was a charm that Madeleine and Lily used to protect both of you. What made it poison to one and not the other was the love that they put in it. Both women died to protect you two. Madeleine knew Hector would die from drinking it. The potion is of no importance anymore."

"It was all to get Severus to reenter the mirror?" Molly Weasley asked.

Snape nodded immediately, "Yes, so that I could see the future changed, so that I would know it is possible." He was smiling slightly.

"You don't die trying to save me," Harry said. "Did you see what would happen?"

Snape turned his now warm brown eyes on Harry and shook his head. "No, I didn't see. It's as if part of my life has been wiped away, like a clean slate. I feel for the first time in my life that I have a future."

Harry nodded. _But do I? _he wondered.

Mariah turned and saw Yuri at the door. "Come we will make this a night to remember, Yuri calls us."

Harry had almost forgotten that they were expected to join the Roma in their camp. Remus was about to be cured. He wanted desperately to return to his room and sleep. Now, there was nothing he could hope for. Every visitation of his mother and Sirius and Madeleine had been about Snape. He felt worse than he had in weeks; worse than the day he'd left Dumbledore's office. Snape's destiny had been changed but not his own.

_I am going to die_, he thought. _It's going to be soon_.

Ron went up to shower and change, Hermione joined Molly Weasley in the kitchen, Remus went with the Roma ahead of everyone else. Snape disappeared into the library which left Harry and Mariah together in the room.

"Harry," she began. She sat beside him and stared at the cold fireplace in front of them.

"Why was I present during those visions?" Harry asked gripping his hands together between his knees, head bent.

"This is important and I will say this slowly so that you will hear. I can read your face Harry. You are feeling betrayed by your mother. You thought she was here to help you and I am telling you that she is. By helping Snape regain the capacity to love she has saved you. I don't know how or when, but he will help you fight Voldemort. He couldn't have done it before, don't you see? His heart was filled with regret and anger."

Harry turned to her and waited.

She looked at him. "I actually think I'm getting really good at this Harry," she said smiling. "I know this in my heart, your friends are getting stronger, first Severus and then Remus. They are getting stronger so that they can help you. Ron and Hermione and others, like this man Dumbledore and me. We will not leave you to fight his alone." She reached over and pulled his hands apart to take one in her own. "Your mother showed you what happened in the past. Do you think she would sacrifice herself only to abandon you to the same evil man, Harry? No, she is still here. I can hear her."

Harry looked into the face that stared back tenderly.

"So must mandi ker 'te kere tutti misto (What must I do to make it better)?" she said and smiled again. "You see Harry I am already learning. I will make a real gypsy even yet. One that my brothers can be proud of. What I want you to know is that it's important for you to believe me. It will be all right."

He studied her face and slowly nodded. They joined Hermione, Ron and Molly Weasley in the hallway in front of Mrs. Black's burnt-out portrait. Harry was hanging back and Mariah took his arm.

"You know this is strange Harry," she said hugging his arm. "In our…the muggle world, in all the movies, they show werewolves being killed by a silver bullet and here we are with a real werewolf who is our friend and he's about to be cured. I never thought I would live this kind of life." She turned to him, her eyes gleaming, and said, "It's wonderful." She stepped through the doorway leaving him alone in the hallway.

"Silver bullet," Harry repeated to himself. "Yes, that's what I need. I need a silver bullet that will kill Voldemort." He glanced around the empty hallway and instead of stepping through the door, he slowly walked over and pulled out his wand, closed the door and locked it.

He turned and climbed the stairs to his room, shoulders slumped and tired.

He threw himself on the bed disheartened. The light from the window shown into the room in elongated ghostly shadows. He looked at it and said to himself, "A Blue Moon. Tonight is the night of the blue moon. There are two full moons in one month." He didn't know why the thought occurred to him. It was one of the few facts that he actually remembered from his astronomy class.

"Mother I feel you all around me," he whispered in agony. "I know you are watching over me and I hope that I can make you proud. Father help me to be strong!"

"Young man," a voice spoke in the semi-darkness, "Wake up! You must wake up! Voldemort is searching for you. He is talking to all of the portraits in the house. You must hide!"

Harry touched the lamp near the bed with the wand that he still held in his hands. He glanced over at Phineas Nigellus' portrait. Sirius' great, great grandfather was _in residence._

Harry stood and walked to the portrait. "Phineas? Is that you?"

"Yes, yes, you stupid child!" the portrait said. "You must hide. He is here in the house!"

Harry glanced around in sudden panic. He saw Ron's drawings of the house lying on a desk and the invisibility cloak lying over a chair. He grabbed both and studied the floor plan with urgency.

_An opening, I need an opening_, he thought in panic. _Here! Here behind this wall._

"Shall I fetch help, Mister Potter?" the portrait asked

Harry didn't hear, he stepped through the swing-away door and into the dark recesses of the false corridor.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen The Ghost in the Walls

Harry slipped into the dark hallway and the door closed behind him. The smell of rot and decay assailed his nose. He almost let out a shriek when something touched his ankle and wrapped itself around it. He said LUMOS very quietly, lighting only the tip of his wand and looked down.

"Bantu!" he whispered at once relieved and worried. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Mariah?"

The cat's marble-clear, emerald-green eyes gleamed at him in the dark. She meowed a silent meow, her mouth open but silent. She ran from him down the narrow corridor between walls. Harry followed instinctively, turning sideways to navigate the narrow opening. He heard nothing and was relying on the sharper hearing of the cat.

Bantu led him to a wider space and Harry stood there momentarily in stunned silence with his mouth hanging open. The walls were transparent. With the exception of intervening intersections, the whole house was visible. He couldn't see beyond the small light from the tip of his wand, but the light of it reflected from every glass surface.

"What is this?" he said aloud. Ron hadn't told him about this. He stepped into a glass hallway following Bantu and looked down. It gave him vertigo. He didn't know how far down the center of the house went but it extended beyond the light. The upper floors were visible as was the roof. He saw internal staircases lining the walls, staircases that would make every floor available to the person walking these corridors. it was a labyrinth of hallways and corridors inside the walls of the house.

_What is this for? _he wondered as he continued to move behind the cat. He also wondered if Sirius had known about this secret internal house; a house inside a house.

Bantu climbed a set of vertical ladder rungs and Harry followed, amazed at the cat's agility. The cat waited at the top and meowed silently again. It was if she knew that she must remain quiet. Harry was looking as far as he could see through the walls and did not see anyone in the house.

_Maybe Phineas was wrong_, he thought. Maybe _I've been warned by mistake. _And then he thought of all the other times portraits had sent out a warnings; the fat lady in Gryffindor tower when Sirius had tried to gain entrance, Sir Cadogan, the mermaid in the Prefects shower and knew that it was better to be safe.

He continued to follow the cat. It was leading him skyward until they again reached a hallway that was made of wood and plaster. He hesitated to leave the area where he had a good view of the house, but reluctantly followed the cat. She led him to a room near the upper floors, that was almost an attic room. He reached for the handle and the door sprang open as if inviting him in. Tall arched windows ran along two walls bathing the room with moonlight. It was filled with ghostly objects that he couldn't recognize until he wandered in and held his illuminated wand out.

_A child's playroom_, he realized with some surprise. There were toys scattered about; a miniature circus with a complete set of hand-carved wooden animals and figures that walked the midway. The carousel was inlaid with mother-of-pearl and diamond cut mirrors. Unlike the rest of the mansion, this room was free of the dust and dirt of the ages; it was immaculate.

Harry walked through the large room without touching anything, his hand stretched out over objects, mesmerized by their beauty and obvious value. The room was a treasure chest of toys beyond measure. What struck him was the small bed tucked away under the eave. It was built for a child of about seven or eight and yet, the room looked lived in, as if only moments before someone had been there ahead of him.

"Whose room is this?" he asked aloud in wonderment. _Sirius? Was it his? _He lost himself in the puzzle for a moment completely forgetting his predicament. If it was Sirius', it was a room that spoke of childhood emptiness. Like his cousin Dudley, Harry thought, Sirius would have had everything he ever wanted. _Everything but somebody to love him_, Harry thought. Still he could not bring himself to believe that the room was Sirius'. The room spoke of indulgences and special favor. From what Harry knew about Sirius' life at home, he had not been indulged.

Bantu scampered up to the top of a tower of a railroad station that stood in the middle of a miniature town. Sitting on the tracks below the tower, polished and shiny, was a red railroad engine pulling six red-lacquered, brass passenger coaches. "Hogwarts Express!" Harry gasped and almost laughed with joy when he spied the lettering on the side. The town was a duplicate of Hogsmeade. It covered an entire corner of the large loft-like room.

As he wandered through the room he thought of how it was a child's paradise. _Who would have done this for a child in this household? _he wondered. The Blacks' were not the kind of people that would have lavished a child with toys. _Hector Black certainly wasn't the type,_ Harry thought. The portrait of Mrs. Black that had hung in the hallway of the entrance spoke of the mother and her propensities. Still Harry knew that it would have taken a small fortune to outfit a room like this.

Harry shook his head and started back to the door. "Bantu why have you brought me here?" he asked the cat that sat on the tower roof, the full yellow moon at her back. Harry looked up at her and heard a flute playing in the silence of the house.

_Mariah?! _he thought at once and then realized that it was not something he was hearing but something he remembered. The only memory he'd ever had of his parent's was his mother's death scream and the flashing green light from Voldemort's wand. There had never been any pleasant memories. He'd seen her again for a moment when she erupted from Voldemort's wand in the graveyard. He had been so frightened, hurt and tired that he had not thought about her presence there, since.

Then, he remembered; she had played a flute. He was a baby sitting and holding onto the slats of the crib and watching her in her rocking chair, playing. He'd reach out to try and touch the notes of the music and she would look at him, shake her head and laugh.

Sitting on the small toddler size bed, Harry said NOX and the light from his wand went out. _What am I supposed to do, Mother? _he thought with frustration_, Hide here?_

"Harry?" The voice followed the last note of the flute. "Harry?" It was soft and warm, an inviting, loving voice. He could almost sense her presence.

"Hareeeee!" a louder, spine-tingling voice called out from somewhere in the bowels of the house. "I'm here and I know you're here. Come out boy!" It was Voldemort. "I promise you I will kill you quickly."

The hairs on Harry's neck prickled and he stood up so quickly he hit his head on the roof eave. This time there was no doubt, Voldemort was in the house. He stepped to the door and slipped down the hallway until he came to an area where he could see through the glass walls. There was a light near the cellar entrance at the kitchen. Squinting, he could barely manage to make out a light and movement there. There were several figures. He held his breath and listened although he found it wasn't necessary, sound traveled easily to him.

"Find him!" Voldemort said to the man at his side. Harry knew instantly who it was. Peter Pettigrew transformed into his animagi form, a rat that scurried through the kitchen. Almost at Voldemort's knees was even a creature smaller than a man. Harry knew it as well; it was Kreacher.

_Kreacher! _Harry thought. _He's helping Voldemort, probably on Malfoy's wife orders. What is her name? Oh yes, Narcissa Black, or maybe even Bellatrix Lestrange, _Harry decided, _She's a Black too._

"Search the house and find him or I will find and kill your master!" Voldemort said quietly.

Harry watched the progress of the rat, that was Peter Pettigrew. Behind him Bantu hopped down from the tower with a tiny thump and met Harry in the hall. She looked up at Harry once, and then down, following the route of the rat as if through a maze and looked up again at Harry as if to say, "I will see to this rat!"

She took off into the dark with her tail high in the air and was headed in a direct line to intercept the rat. Harry swallowed hard and turned to watch Voldemort again. _How did you find this house?_ Harry wondered. Dumbledore was the Secret-keeper for the Order. Unless he told someone, then the house was unplottable, even Voldemort couldn't find it. But Voldemort was here.

"Harry." The voice at once clear and distinctive was like a bell ringing an alarm.

"Mother?" he whispered, so quietly that the walls muffled it as soon as it escaped his throat. He stared back into the attic room and returned to the room. He'd left behind everything that he'd carried away with him.

Reaching down he picked up the copied map that Ron had made and found that he'd inadvertently picked up the slim volume that Hermione had poured over; _House Elves and Their Magic by Tinker, Daffodil and Bonbon._

Slipping the invisibility cloak over his shoulders he once again took a breath and waited for her to speak again. The room was silent except for the movement of the toy carousel.

It turned mutely, the mirrors flashing moonlight onto Harry's glasses as he studied the slim book.

He took the book out into the hall again and closed the door. Voldemort had not moved and Kreacher remained at his side. "Find him," the evil man said to the elf. "Do it quickly!"

Kreacher nodded once and hurried out of the room. It was as if his nose carried Harry's scent. The elf was quickly climbing stairs and was already approaching the child's bedroom. Harry didn't know enough about house-elves to know if the elf could pick up his smell and track him. He flipped the book open and began to read as quickly as he could. He knew Kreacher could find him in the hidden walls, had been through them himself many times.

_What am I looking for_, Harry thought in panic. _This book must have something. Anything!_

"I am a patient man," Voldemort said loudly. "I will wait Harreeee….but only for a short time."

Harry glanced over and saw the evil, cruel face looking up towards him. He knew that there were a dozen walls and at least three floors that separated them, but he felt the stare cut through him and it was then that his scar blazed with fire. He almost dropped the book when he felt it cleave his skull. Voldemort was searching with his thoughts. He dropped to his knees, his vision blurred by the pain and he clutched the book in his hands convulsively.

He heard the flute. Its' wistful melody penetrated and float around his head, dissipating the pain. He could smell flowers and fresh air wafted towards him through the hall so that in a moment the pain had ceased altogether and his head was clear.

The book seemed to jump in his hand and flip to an open page. He held the book up and allowed the light of the moon to play over the page. The words stood out: _It is imperative that as a House elf you must obey a direct order from your master. Failure to do so means instantaneous punishment either implemented by your master or by yourself._

Harry skimmed the words. He seemed to be reading a list of House Elf rules. The next stated; _A House elf is forbidden to harm or cause harm, to his human master. If found negligent, the elf in question will be put to death immediately by having his head removed._

Harry glanced at the second floor bedroom and saw that Kreacher had taken the same entrance that he had. The elf would be there momentarily.

A delicate sneeze caused Harry to look down again. Bantu had returned, this time she sat licking her fur and her paws with a rose-pink tongue. She looked at him and sat quietly, looking very pleased with herself. Harry had the uneasy feeling that he would not be seeing Peter Pettigrew again.

Bantu heard the house elf before Harry did. She stood and turned in the narrow glass walkway between the halls and raised her back and snarled. Harry looked up unaware that he presented an unusual picture. He'd wrapped the invisibility cloak around himself except for his head and that was the only thing visible.

Kreacher walked, crouched over surveying the house through the glass walls. He stopped, startled when he looked ahead and saw Harry's head swimming in empty space. It gave Harry the moment he needed to speak before the house-elf could utter a word.

"I command you Kreacher! I am Harry Potter Black. You must obey me!" Harry held the book up so that the light could shine on it and the elf could see the writing on it. Just below the human words were letters written in Kreacher's own language. They formed a silvery outline when the moonlight touched them. Harry held out his wand waiting.

Kreacher stepped back with an arm up over his eyes, "Kreacher sees a wraith, a ghost. Is it that this half-breed scum is already dead?" he asked in terror. "The Dark Lord will kill Kreacher if the Potter boy is dead already!" he cried out in a tremulous squeaking voice.

"If he doesn't kill you, I will if you give me away," Harry whispered vehemently. "You betrayed Sirius, your master and let him go to his death. Before I put an end to you, you will obey me and do as I ask!" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the creature whose ears were laid back flat against his head and was visibly quaking in terror.

Bantu continued to hiss and Harry almost laughed when Kreacher hissed back. "Kreacher doesn't like Master Potter's _familiar_. Master Potter won't let the ugly beast hurt Kreacher? Will he?" Kreacher was down on his knees, hands pressed together groveling.

Harry glanced down once again at Bantu, his eyebrows arched in consternation, _A familiar?! _He had learned about them in Remus' class. They were animals possessed by human spirits. He shook his head and once again looked at Kreacher.

"We don't have any time, Kreacher," Harry snarled. "Does the Dark Lord know that there are hidden walls?"

Kreacher shook his head, "No, no," he said piteously, "Only Master Black knows of the hidden walls and rooms, only our master and ourselves."

Harry thought about that. Kreacher was capable of lying.

"Do you serve the Dark Lord?" Harry asked.

Kreacher pressed himself against the wall and away from Bantu who was pacing back and forth between him and Harry. The elf's eyes followed the cat and he continued to tremble.

"No! No!. Kreacher must serve only one Master," his voice was hoarse from his fear and Harry heard him muttering under his breath. "The cat must die. Yes, Kreacher must kill the cats and then takes the Potter boy to his Lordship."

"Kreacher, who do you serve?" Harry said bitterly, reaching out to grab the elf and missing.

The creature drew back and cringed, "You is ruined it. You is burned the lady's picture. You is no better than that scoundrel of a son. Why is you in the Master's bedroom?" The creature nodded towards the open door of the nursery and playroom. "You does not belong there."

"Kreacher!" Harry spat. He was watching Voldemort pacing the kitchen. He knew that he would venture into the house on his own as soon as Peter and Kreacher failed to return.

"I serves Regulus Black," Kreacher said. "He is my master."

Harry stared at him as if he'd gone mental. _Regulus Black! _He reached down and grabbed the elf by his tea cozy and shook him like a rag doll. "Regulus Black is dead," Harry snarled, spitting into the elf's face. "Don't lie to me!" Harry was enraged, the wand pointing at the elf.

The elf shook his head. "He is not, he is not!" he cried in terror.

A figure emerged from the shadows behind Kreacher. Harry squinted up to see the face. It was a man, his hair long and unruly, flowing into a long black beard. He wore old fashioned clothing and his face was paler than the light of the moon . He looked feral; he looked like a wild man. The man stepped up behind Kreacher who cowered back against his leg when Harry's grasp slackened.

"Hello, Harry," the man said quietly. "I am Reggie Black." His voice was hoarse as if from long years of misuse. Harry noticed some resemblance to Sirius as he gazed at the face, especially around the eyes. This man was taller and much, much thinner.

A moment passed and Harry, who had been crouching down, stood and shook his head. "You're….you're supposed to be dead!" he gasped.

The man shook his head. "I listened to my brother tell you that I was dead that day in the sitting room when you stood before the tapestry, but I wasn't. I found this…." he looked down through the glass into the dark depths of the house. "It was my father's secret. He showed it to me and I disappeared." The man turned back to Harry. "Disappeared so that I would not have to follow that wizard!"

Harry stepped back, wondering if he were now in more danger than being confronted by Voldemort. "Why? You mean you've been living here in these walls for all of these years?"

The shaggy-haired man turned to him and answered, "Yes."

Harry coughed, "Are you…going to take me to him?" Their eyes turned to Voldemort together. The man was moving out of the kitchen and into the downstairs hallway.

Regulus Black shook his head slowly. "That evil man you see below would have killed me if he knew that I lived. I served him until the night of the Ball. My father wanted to save me from him, from getting his death mark and serving him. He showed me the hidden part of the house that night. I also saw for myself how cunningly clever and utterly evil this man was. He killed them all, he killed those who were loyal to him. I knew that he would kill me, too."

"No, no Masters," Kreacher said in a hushed voice. "It is this Potters boy. The Dark Lord will kills Kreacher if we do not take him the Potter boy."

"Shut it, Kreacher," Regulus growled. He turned to Harry with almost an apologetic look on his barely visible face. "I have never been able to change Kreacher's mind about certain things. My parent's were too much of an influence on him. However as you know he does obey me." He nodded at the book in Harry's hands.

Harry continued to stare in awe at the man wondering how he had managed to save his sanity and live within the walls of Black House for so many years. He had escaped the only way any person could escape, by feigning death.

"Did…did Sirius know that you were alive?" Harry sputtered. He studied the face, what he could see of it.

Regulus shook his head and sighed deeply. "Kreacher is the only one who has known until recently. Tell me then Harry, has the plan changed? You were not supposed to be in the house tonight."

"What…what plan? Harry asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"Severus said that you would be gone. That is why Kreacher was sent with the message. He was to guide Lord Voldemort to the house after you had left and Severus was going to kill him." The man turned and looked down again. His penetrating stare was directed at the wizard who stood in the kitchen and paced impatiently.

Both of them could see when Voldemort left the kitchen and started through the house. "However, I don't think my hiding place will protect us both for long." Reggie said, " I think this time he will find me, and you along with me. That cannot happen." He broke his gaze and looked over to Harry. He gestured to him saying quietly, "If you'll permit me, I think we can avoid him for a little longer. Your questions must wait until you are safe."

Regulus grabbed his arm with a steel grip. Harry felt himself almost physically carried along through the glass hallways, from room to room until his head was awhirl. He almost immediately lost track of where they were. They ended up in an underground chamber, like a cellar but several floors deeper.

They entered a room that was decorated in garish and tasteless décor. Harry thought it looked like remnants of furniture from all over the house had been brought in to develop a living area. There was even a type of sarcophagus that rested on the paws of an immense stone lion that sat at the end of the room.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

Reggie Black shook his head ignoring the question, the mass of hair made his head look twice it's size. "I've waited for years for the opportunity to catch Lord Voldemort by surprise and kill him. He hasn't suspected that I was still alive and he's not been in this house since the night of the Ball." He covered the room quickly, lighting lamps as he went. The gloom of the interior was hardly broken by the sudden light.

"But I knew he'd return someday. My father taught him everything he knew. He was destined to return to this house after the last Black was dead, to gloat over his victory I think." The man held a lamp up to Harry's face and said, "He waited a long time, as I have. We have been patient. You know it holds the secret don't you?" The man's eyes looked almost crazed in the light of the lamp.

"But…but... secret what secret?" Harry asked and shook his head in bewilderment. "Regulus, you don't understand. There was a prophecy that said that I must kill him or be killed by him. If he is to die I have to be the one who does it." Harry stared at the closed door, what he could see of it in the dark of the room. "Although I haven't the faintest idea how to go about it."

Reggie stood very still watching Harry.

Harry could feel the man's eyes drilling into him and he went on quickly, "I have to think of something very soon because my friends are going to come back and he'll be in the house." Harry stood waiting and watching the man, wondering if he had lost his wits altogether after long years of isolation. "Are you with me? Do you understand?" The eyes that stared back reminded him very much of Sirius' when he first seen him the Shrieking Shack. Harry wondered then, if Sirius had been driven insane by Azkaban.

"Yes, I understand," Reggie finally said. "Severus said nothing of a prophecy. He saw me for the first time yesterday evening. I was careless. I was interested in the gypsy witch and her people and I was peeping. Don't like people trespassing in the house, I don't. But I knew him, of course. he's been here many times. He told me that you weren't to be here, that he would trap the Dark Lord here tonight and kill him."

Harry's mind flew back to the moment his friends had stepped through the front door on their way to the Roma encampment. He realized Snape had not been with them and he suddenly wondered where he was. "But the house is protected. Albus Dumbledore is the Secret Keeper for the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort could not have found the house unless Albus had told him," he argued.

Reggie shook his head again. "Snape is the Secret Keeper for the Order. He told me himself. He is the one who told Voldemort where you were to draw him here. I sent Kreacher with the message."

Harry stood confounded and finally gasped, "Severus is the Secret Keeper. He told Voldemort I was here?"

"Uh yeah, to set a trap. He said that Voldemort was getting close and that it would be better to bait him with the information and let him think you were here," Reggie answered and studied Harry's face. "Is Snape friend or foe? I've always wondered."

"Friend," Harry stammered. "I…I hope." His thoughts were racing. Snape knew the prophecy. Harry had told him the night he rescued him from Mariah's house. Why would he deliberately invite Voldemort to the House. _Does he want me dead?! _Harry asked himself. Snape knew that he could not kill Voldemort on his own. "Where is he now?"

"He's in that library," Reggie said. "At least he was there before I found you." He was staring at the mewling house-elf who stood at the entrance to the room hopping from one foot to another with intense agitation.

"I'm going back for him. I can at least try to persuade him to hide," Harry said and headed towards the door. Kreacher slid to the side as if afraid to be touched.

"No, you can't!" Reggie reached out and the eyes that peered out from all of the hair looked frightened. "Voldemort will kill you. At least here you'll be safe. Riddle will never find this room." He dropped his eyes and said in a child-like voice, "I haven't had anyone to talk to for years."

It was then that Harry realized that the room upstairs, the nursery and playroom had been used recently. The man was not insane but very lost. He'd taken up living in the family crypt; had been there hidden away from all human contact for years with only the company of a house elf, who was, himself- crazed. Harry knew that Regulus had watched through the transparent walls, had watched life go on but had not participated.

"Master mustn't go," Kreacher screeched. "Let the half-blood go before the Dark Lord and die. Master mustn't show himself."

Reggie turned to Kreacher and then back to Harry.

Harry could see the confusion and longing in the man's face. He could only imagine what it would be like to not have any contact with humans for that many years. To stand behind glass walls and watch the world go by. He suddenly felt horrified at the thought.

"Reggie tell me what the plan was to kill Voldemort. How was Severus going to kill him, do you know?" Harry pleaded with the man who was gazing off into space.

"I told him about the Secret," Reggie said in a distracted manner. "He got excited and asked for my help. I was to trick Riddle into following me. Snape said Riddle wanted immortality. That's what my dad wanted. That's why he made the mirror."

"The mirror," Harry's mind flew to the mirror on the second floor above the ballroom. "The mirror over the ballroom Reggie? On the second floor?"

The man nodded and looked out the door. "My father used it all the time. He would go through it from only one direction. He told me that I should never go through it from the hallway." Reggie turned to Harry. "Snape said he went through it from the hallway side. He thinks he can persuade Riddle that it will bring him immortality to step through it. " That is what my father believed. It didn't do him no good. He didn't live."

Reggie smirked and seemed to be talking to the room at large. "Riddle is a half-blood, only a pureblood can walk through the mirror or bad things happen. I don't know what they are but it's supposed to be bad. My father knew that. It was to be his weapon if Riddle took over the purebloods. The night of the Ball he was going to walk Riddle through it. He was going to kill him, "kill the impudent 'mud-blood'," is what he said. But he died instead."

Harry nodded, wondering again if the man were sane. "Reggie, Madeleine Snape killed your father."

Reggie nodded and replied, "I watched her do it. If she hadn't of killed him first, I would have. I hid away from Riddle because of him. ANd because of him Riddle became Lord Voldemort and grew to be even more powerful then my father thought possible. He is responsible for that." Reggie shook his head. "However, if my father had lived he would have been worse then Riddle ever thought of being. I have been condemned to live in these walls for eighteen years because of it all."

Harry felt a sense of urgency. "Reggie we've got to help Snape. Voldemort has found him by now." Harry heard Bantu at the door. She jerked her head back and meowed at him. Kreacher was cringing in a corner of the room and gave a little scream when he heard her.

Harry stared at her. The cat seemed to understand what they were saying. He turned to Reggie wondering how he could break the man's lethargy. "Come out of hiding Reggie. This is no place for a human to be." He watched the man frown as if deep in thought. "Sirius was your brother. He wouldn't have wanted you to be in a prison. He was in Azkaban for a long time for something he didn't do. It would have hurt him badly if he knew what had happened to you."

"Sirius?" Reggie said and studied his feet. " Azkaban? I knew he was gone for years, but never knew why. Whatever happened to Sirius? He was here just a month ago it seems. It wasn't that long. Phineas wouldn't say, nor would Kreacher. He hated him so much that he'd never tell me anything or bring me news. It wasn't any good punishing the filthy creature, he just wouldn't do it. He'd rather listen to that old portrait of mother on the wall before he'd listen to me." Regulus turned to the house-elf and stared at him with disgust.

Harry stared at him in disbelief. It seemed that the whole household, even the portraits, had conspired to delude the man. There had been no one there to disillusion him.

"Voldemort killed Sirius, Reggie. He enticed me to the Department of Mysteries at The Ministry of Magic, making me think that he had Sirius and was torturing him," Harry said, gently. "Sirius fought a battle trying to save my life and Bellatrix Lestrange killed him." He thought that was a honest a statement as he could make.

"Bellatrix Black, our cousin?" Reggie asked in shock.

Harry answered, "She serves the Dark Lord and is almost as evil as he is."

Reggie looked at the ground again and shot a black look at Kreacher when the elf squealed, "Master! Kreacher keeps you safe Master. We's always here to keep you safe."

Minutes went by and Harry itched to leave the confounded man behind and make his way back up to the library by himself. He now knew that there might be a way to kill Voldemort, but he needed Reggie's help to get there in time. Harry thought the cat's behavior was convincing. They were running out of time.

Reggie stared at the elf and finally nodded and said softly, "I will help you."

"You could get killed," Harry said.

"The Blacks don't deserve to live Harry. I've watched you and Sirius when he was here. He loved you. He wasn't like the rest of us. He was smart to leave the family when he could. I'm not like him. He was the one that escaped and he should have lived. I was the one who should have died and didn't. I served the Dark Lord and I was a coward in the end. Eventually, Riddle would have learned of my existence and hunt me down anyway." Reggie stared at Kreacher again. "I think it's time I stop running away."

Harry felt the sadness rise in his chest like a wave of pain. "Reggie," he started and the man interrupted.

"Doesn't do any good to argue," he said. He straightened his shoulders and pointed an index finger at Kreacher. "You will stay here and guard the tombs of the Blacks or suffer the consequences."

Kreacher went to his knees, moaning and groveling once again. "Master, master. Please."

Reggie stepped over him and walked out the door with Bantu on his tail.

Harry followed and tried to keep track of their route through the house. He listened to Reggie muttering unintelligible thoughts as if talking to himself. He suddenly stopped and spun on his heel so that Harry almost ran into him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Tell me why it must be you that kills Riddle?" Reggie asked.

Harry sighed and answered, "I will but can we move as we talk? Can he hear us in the walls? I'm afraid Snape is in terrible trouble and we must get to him."

Reggie stared at him, turned again quickly and Harry started telling him in hurried whispers of the prophecy, the blood oath taken by his own mother and Snape's mother, how Voldemort had killed his parents when the Unforgivable Curse rebounded and how he had survived.

He told him quickly about how Sirius walked through the mirror with Snape the night of the Ball, how he'd seen his own death. Harry was almost out of breath as he told the man about the vision he and Snape had of Madeleine killing Hector Black. At this, the man took the stairs to the next floor two at a time.

"Yes, yes," Reggie said. "All very dark magic. Very Dark. I will tell you what we are going to do Harry. We are almost there so you must listen carefully."

Bantu ran quickly ahead of them, turned waited and meowed if they slowed to talk. Harry knew the signs the cat was making. They needed to hurry.

"Harry will you do something for me?" Reggie asked.

"Yes Reggie, what?" Harry asked feeling almost panicked at their lack of speed.

"I want to see all of you before we go any further. I need to know that you aren't a ghost," the man said.

Harry looked down and realized that he was still wearing the invisibility cloak from the neck down. "Oh sorry." He pulled it away.

"Be sure and cover up entirely with it, Harry. Even Riddle cannot see through an invisibility cloak," Reggie finished.

They reached the backside of the library. The walls were as transparent around the library as they had been anywhere else in the house. Harry was amazed that they could stand and look through rows of books and see the entire room.

_If I survive this, _he thought, _I will have to ask Reggie why his father built this house._

His eyes were immediately directed to the center of the room. Snape was on his knees, head bent and holding himself as if in agony. A man was standing with his back to Harry. It was Voldemort. And Harry knew what he was doing. He had experienced the Cruciatus Curse himself. Harry was surprised that Snape was still upright.

Harry glanced at Reggie. It was apparent that Reggie also knew what was happening. The man was staring at the expression on Snape's face and the pain etched there and Harry heard Reggie's cry die in a strangled gurgle in his throat.

"Where is the Potter boy, Severus?" Voldemort asked, his voice full of laughter. "Tell me and I might spare your life. I might be willing to be generous if you just turn him over to me." Voldemort stepped closer. "However, I can make you suffer. You know I can make you suffer."

Snape pushed himself up, grunting in pain and said, "I called you here Master because I have discovered a treasure beyond all price. Something that you have desired above all else. It is the gateway to immortality. Hector Black made it and hid it's existence from you. Can you not see that I have taken years off my life by using it?" Harry watched in fascination as Snape raised his head and looked at Voldemort. It was very clear that he did appear younger, vibrant; even in his pain.

"I wish to rid myself of this irritation," Voldemort was saying as he circled Snape and examined him. "After all it was you who told me of the prophecy in its' entirety Severus, and now you tempt me with this morsel? Where is the boy? Let us finish this task first."

Snape struggled to his feet but kept his head bent in a subservient manner. His voice, when he spoke, was also almost pleading, "The boy is not a threat to you Lord. He does not have the power to harm you and you can kill him at your leisure. He will return shortly."

"How was this discovery made Severus?" Voldemort asked, stopping inches from his face, obviously enthralled by what he was seeing, by the youth in Severus' face.

Harry stepped back involuntarily with horror, wondering how Snape could stand so close to the man and not move a muscle.

Reggie turned to him. "We must do this now," he mouthed.

Harry left Reggie to move back through the walls. He climbed the stairs leading to the second floor and exited into the bedroom where Madam Snape's belongings still lie in dust and filth and entered the hallway of the mirror. He moved quickly down the hall and stood at the top of the stairs and watched the open doorway. He heard Regulus voice coming from the room.

"I told him Tom," Reggie said. "My father told me." Harry knew that Reggie had entered the room from a secret doorway.

There was silence in the room.

"What is this?" Voldemort asked, venom dripping from his voice. "Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me Tom?" Reggie asked. "You were like my older brother.

We learned together, you and I. Father taught us everything he knew except for one small thing and he showed that only to me. I have been in hiding from you for eighteen years. I will part with the secret in exchange for my life."

"Regulus," Voldemort said nastily. "How lovely to see you. You have been missing from the circle, gone forever, I thought." There was silence and then the voice again. "So you thought to hide yourself from me. Very good, very good. Hector was a clever man but not clever enough. Severus could probably tell you the tale. His mother poisoned him and killed him." Harry heard the raucous laughter and Voldemort continued. "I would have killed him anyway but she saved me the trouble."

"I would have killed him sooner or later, too. Father is of no importance in this discussion," Reggie said. "So, now that I have shown myself to you I want an answer."

Harry took one step down the stairs, listening through the veil of the invisibility cloak, mesmerized by the conversation. He knew that Reggie knew he was sealing his fate if the Dark Lord failed to fall for his ploy. _Come on, come on_, Harry thought. _Bring him up here, show him the way._

"Why should I bother with a traitor like you Regulus," Voldemort said. "Severus will show me what you have hidden from me. After all he IS my faithful servant, aren't you Severus?" Voldemort's voice was honey-sweet and obvious. Harry could hear that Voldemort didn't trust Snape. The two men were both doomed.

Harry stopped on the second stair from the top, waiting, ready to run down the hall and wait at the mirror. If Voldemort hesitated to step through he would push him. _Just bring him to me, _he thought.

A figure emerged into the gallery moving quickly across the floor. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. It was Mariah. She was headed directly to the library where the voices were drawing her.

_NO! Not there! _Harry screamed silentlyHe started down the stairs, but was too late. She had already been seen.

"And what do we have here?" Voldemort said easily. "Are we having a party? Oh good!"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen Bantu

Harry moved quietly down the stairs towards the open library door. He was waiting to see if anyone had followed Mariah. There was nothing moving in the house and he was sure that she had returned from the Roma camp alone.

He knew also, what he was going to see when he walked to the doorway. Mariah was standing in front of Severus. He was on his feet but looking as if he would collapse at any minute. Reggie was standing with them and Voldemort had his back to the door his wand out and pointed at all three of them.

"And who might this be?" Voldemort asked silkily. "A friend of yours Severus?"

Harry watched in growing fear, unsure of what to do and feeling helpless. He started forward and stopped when he noticed a movement around his ankles. Something was disturbing the invisibility cloak.

He looked down and saw Bantu sitting at his feet. She was staring up at him with her green eyes. If Voldemort turned at that moment he would surely know that someone was standing there.

Harry mouthed the words, _Go away! _but the cat shook her head in a very unlike-cat manner and stared into the room. Harry looked up. Voldemort was circling the three that stood in the center.

"This is a nuisance," Voldemort was saying. "Where is the boy? Where is Potter? Did you bring him with you woman?"

Mariah closed her eyes at the sight of the horrific figure in front of her and backed into Severus. She shielded him and stood tall as if bracing herself. She spoke calmly and clearly, "I would not let you have him for all the world. Nor will you hurt this man," her words were strong with the Hungarian accent. She opened her eyes and glared at Voldemort. "You cannot hurt me you black devil."

Voldemort coughed out a laugh and Harry watched as Snape pulled her back trying to get around in front of her. "Mariah, stop!" he gasped.

"Who is this woman?" Voldemort asked, still chuckling. "Someone you care about Severus? Why she is nothing but a mud-blood." Harry watched the evil figure stroll towards the three. He was leering and running his eyes up and down her body. His skeletal face was screwed up into a malicious grin.

"I am Mariah," Mariah said. "I am no mud-blood you foul, wicked Kalo Beng. I am a Roma witch!"

Harry closed his eyes for a second. _No, Mariah! No_. _You don't know what you are doing!_ he thought. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Voldemort. He saw the expression change slightly. He saw fear! He was again surprised by the reaction when someone heard that Mariah was gypsy.

She dropped her head and looked at the ground, her arms still spread wide in front of Snape who was also looking at the back of her in horror. She began to whisper and chant. Harry could barely make out the words.

"Fire, fire burning bright, Usti lacho kham kai mudarel o chomut (arise sun and kill the moon), Let smoke and flame drive away all evil, Nasvalo thai parno si o chomut thai na mangel ke tu - leski ( Sick and white is the moon that doesn't want you), I add the sticks and the wood to bring the flame."

Mariah brought her hands together rubbing them and lifting them as if she could see the moon overhead, "To bring the flame, to bring the flame." Suddenly a small flame began to burn at her feet. She began to move around Snape and Reggie and the fire moved with her, encircling them. She reached in her waist band and began to sprinkle a substance on the fire, turning it blue. "To bring flame that will drive away the devils," she continued ignoring Voldemort who had raised his wand.

"Stop you cursed woman or I will kill you where you stand and everyone with you," Voldemort raised his wand and Harry knew that he was about to kill them all.

"Te cordon muro rat ando dyaslis iphoo (may my blood spill before I give up)," she said and spit at him. She continued muttering to the fire, " Fire burn, fire burn, let smoke and flame consume and drive away the evil. Usti lacho yak kai mudarel o beng (arise flames and kill the devil)."

Harry suddenly heard the flute, it was much closer then it had been before, and then, he heard Bantu meow. He looked down in panic, knowing that Voldemort was about to kill Mariah and Snape and Reggie and that he would be next.

He stared at her and his head began to swim as he looked down into the green eyes. He felt drugged, felt a warmth creeping over his limbs, climbing up through his body. He heard words, drifting towards him as if on a wind. "Harry, I am coming," and he knew who spoke the words.

_Mother?_

"Harry," the words were in his head; she was there in his head. _Mother!_

"Fire burn quickly, call to the women whose sons were lost, who died suffering because of this devil. I add sticks, I add wood, to bring the flame, that will drive away this devil," Mariah continued to chant and the flames rose higher illuminating their faces. Harry was amazed and hypnotized by the scene that was so reminiscent of a movie-witch burning at the stake.

Voldemort stepped back watching Mariah, uncertainty etching his snake-like visage. His upper lip was raised and the sharpened yellow fangs hissed at her in rage. He raised his wand, "Ah…VA…DA…"

_Say the words now Harry. Remember the words_. His mother was there whispering to him. Unable to say them herself she was using his mouth. He felt it open and the words forming. _You must say them in reverse. Reverse the spell…_

"Lily, Madeleine, come to the aid of your sons," Mariah was shouting over the roar of the flames that seem to grow higher but burn nothing. "Revenge your deaths. Drive away the evil!"

Harry was staring out through another pair of eyes. He felt his hand, and yet not his hand, reach for the invisibility cloak and pull it aside. He felt his feet move into the room. He felt like a puppet, his movements, his breathing governed by another source. _Harry remember the words, say them in reverse. Cast the spell!_

"KE…DAV…….." Voldemort was shouting. He caught sight of Harry and stuttered. "Wha…!"

Harry saw Snape's face look at him and then turn; they both faced the wall.

A figure emerged through it and walked to Harry's side. He turned his head in slow motion and saw her. It was the figure of Madeleine Snape. She was as solid and beautiful as she had been in their vision. With her at his side Harry raised his hand, one that was long and slender and pointed at Voldemort. Along with Madeline the words poured from his mouth, "SSUTROMED MEDIUQE!" It was the blood incantation pronounced in reverse.

Harry felt two hearts in his chest, felt his mother's love and compassion as her eyes went to Snape and then turned to Madeleine. Together the two of them turned on Voldemort and felt his mother's energy flowing out towards the black wickedness in front of her.

He watched as Voldemort grabbed his chest, his mouth open in a strangle cry, his yellow, cat-like eyes wide with terror. A gateway opened into a deep black void. From its depths a chilling smell arose and the sound of many indistinct voices. Ghostly images began to form and Harry began to see people that looked familiar. Only these were not the living. Hector Black came forward first, his eyes empty holes, his grin, the permanent grin of a skeletal face and then others. Harry remembered them from seeing them in the ballroom.

Voldemort saw them and in terror, stepped back and threw up his hands. Their hands grabbed at his robes and his clothes while he screamed, "No, no. I cannot die! I am immortal!" Slowly their ghostly forms covered him and pulled him down and slid backwards towards the dark abyss until every trace of him was gone. They stood there listening, still hearing his horrific screaming until the dark hole blinked out.

Harry looked down and for a moment, saw; not his own body, but that of a woman. He had but a glimpse and he felt her begin to step away, fading as did the figure of Madeleine Snape. Severus had reached out his hand towards his mother and his mouth hung open as if the words were caught.

In the next instant, they stood in the room in silence. The fire was gone leaving only a blackened circle on the floor.

Harry was listening, his head cocked to the side. The words were in his head. _I'm leaving you now Harry. I love you. Always remember that I love you." _He heard the voice and the words, but felt with excruciating sensitivity, the never-ending warmth that flowed through him. It filled him with such tenderness and joy that he held his stomach and was partially bent over and then he straightened and laughed aloud.

_It feels like flying! _were his first thoughts. _It's wonderful! _He felt happiness and freedom.

-----------------------

They stood in the dim light of the library, four figures close together.

Mariah was the first to speak, "Go in peace." She then turned and hugged Snape who looked down on her with such a burning look of affection and love that Harry turned away, feeling bashful.

He looked at Reggie and smiled. "Come on Reggie. It's time we took eighteen years off of you," Harry said, light-heartedly. Holding him gently by the arm, he showed him through the foyer and up the stairs to the shower.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen Hogwarts

Harry stood looking in the mirror at his unruly hair when the tap came at the door.

"Come in," he said.

Mariah poked her head in and smiled at him. "We cannot leave the guest of honor behind," she said and stepped in.

He smiled back. "I was just combing my hair, " he replied.

She looked at it and laughed. He laughed along with her. "It's always been this way," he said, noticing that she carried a guitar.

"Remus was afraid that you would be left behind this time and I have been sent to fetch you," she studied his face in the mirror and he looked back. "Severus says that we must still be careful because there are the Death Eaters that are still around, whatever that means."

"What are you going to do Mariah?" he turned and dropped on the bed. "Have you decided?" He was referring to the fact that Snape and Dumbledore did not think it was safe for her to return to the own home and since she had discovered that she was a witch, she had a choice.

"Oh, yes," she said dropping down into a chair. She laid the guitar in her lap and strummed it with three fingers. "Severus and I are going to marry. He and I will go with Yuri and the Kumpania for the rest of the summer. When it is time for school, he will teach I will live in Hogsmeade." She looked up and her eyes twinkled. "Your new Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher and his companion will live there and keep me company."

Harry watched her amused by her coyness, "Oh and who would that be?"

"Why Remus Lupin," she answered. "He has taken the position and asked Reggie to join him. Remus says that he will need looking after for awhile until he gets used to living out in the world. They all seem to think that we need to be near you."

"Really!" Harry said smiling again.

"Well Remus and Reggie have quite a lot of money I guess. Remus inherited some of Sirius' estate along with you. Severus is your guardian and….," she grinned, and said "you have to do what he says for another year."

"I don't!" Harry said teasingly.

After a moment, she looked up at him with a serious face. "We have lost our families Harry. All of us. What better than to start a new one. Will you join our family?"

He looked down at her and nodded.

They joined the others at the front door. Hermione and Ron ushered him through first and he stepped from the hallway of the Black Mansion into the darkness of a wagon. The door to it was open and many faces were waiting there.

He was greeted by his friends from school including Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and others. When he looked he saw a large bonfire burning, people playing instruments and children racing around in the twilight and the flying sparks of fire.

Yuri was standing waiting for him, his hat cocked over his eyebrow. He introduced his companions and led Harry into the circle around the fire. Mariah took a seat outside the ring and began playing, joining in with the other musicians. Hermione took a seat beside her.

"You are a man now Harry. It is your birthday!" Yuri proclaimed. "We will teach you to dance like a man!"

---------------------------------

Harry took is customary place at the Gryffindor table and started filling his plate. It was the first morning of classes. Hermione and Ron were already eating. Hedwig landed in front of him with her foot extended. He wondered who could be sending him mail since he'd met with almost everyone he knew during the course of the summer, including Dumbledore. There had been one exception and it had not surprised him that Snape had avoided him. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say to the man.

He withdrew the parchment and gave Hedwig a piece of bacon while he read the short letter.

_Mr. Potter,_

_Could you see me in my quarters before class begins. _

_Professor Severus Snape._

Harry glanced up at the head table and noticed that Snape was not at his customary spot. He had not been there the night before for the Sorting Ceremony and he had wondered what was going on with the man. He had not seen him the entire time he had stayed with Mariah and Yuri. Hermione and Ron had also joined him and together they had traveled with the _kampania_ around the country until it was time to board the Hogwarts Express.

"Who's it from Harry?" Hermione asked noticing his expression.

"Snape," Harry mumbled "wants me to meet him before your first class." He was frowning. Harry had received the results of his OWLS late in the summer and he had not been admitted into Snape's Special Potion's class.

"Best hurry then," she nodded. "His special class is first this morning." She held a schedule in front of her.

He left his plate half empty and gathered his books and satchel and made his way to the dungeons. He'd never been to Snape's quarters but thought they might be near the Slytherin Common rooms.

When he walked down the empty corridor he found the door already open. He pushed the door back and cautiously looked in. Snape was sitting at a desk, a window behind him. Even though he was in the dungeon, the window illuminated the room. Harry stared at the furnishings. It was a beautiful room, with heavy leather furniture, tapestry edged in gold braid and a sense of the regal in the choices of artwork that sat on highly polished tables.

"Come in Potter," the man said, his head bent over his writing.

Potter stepped in slowly and joined him at the writing desk. Snape didn't look up but stood and laid his quill across the white parchment.

Harry was looking at the sheet of paper when Snape spoke to him. He looked up into the brown eyes of his Potion's Master. He was once again amazed at the transformation he saw there, as had most of the school.

"Yes, Professor," Harry said, "I received your note." In fact he held it in his hand.

Snape nodded, reached down and picked up the parchment. He handed it to Harry turning it so that he could read it immediately. Harry glanced over it quickly. It was an admission form to allow him to take Snape's Special Potion's class. He reread it and looked up.

"I've taken the liberty to rearrange your schedule and inform your other teachers that you will start my class this morning," Snape said. He stood stiffly behind his desk and continued, "It is my understanding that you wish to study to become an Auror. Your marks from last term in my class did not reflect the marks you made in your O.W.L.S, therefore I think that we should try and improve your skills before you attempt you N.E.W.T.S."

Harry found himself staring with his mouth open. The man was actually talking in a normal, respectful voice. "Thank…thank you Professor," he stuttered.

"You are still interested?" Snape asked, his eyebrow arching.

"Yes, yes, I am Professor," Harry nodded.

Snape turned to the window slowly and spoke again in a muted voice, " I have allowed my mind to become prey to the darkness Harry," he said. "It almost overtook me. However, dark and bad and terrible things seemed, there was a moment where it turned around." Snape turned back to him and said evenly, "I don't think you will trust this, but I believe that you are one of the bravest people I have ever met, besides your mother."

Harry's breath caught in his chest.

He cleared his throat and continued, "I'm proud to say that we are cousins." He leaned against his desk, his fingers splayed against it's clean polished surface and he looked Harry in the eyes. "This does not resolve you of the responsibility to work diligently in my class; nor will you receive special favor."

Harry caught the laughter in the eyes and he didn't know what to do.

"Harry, we are all still in danger. Malfoy now has a clear path to step into Voldemort's shoes. I do not think that he will pass over you. As a matter of fact, I would like to help you train for your apprenticeship as an Auror. I think I am qualified to do it and so does Dumbledore. But it is understandable if you choose someone else as your mentor."

Harry was shaking his head, stupefied by what he was hearing. "No, no, that would be excellent Professor."

Snape nodded solemnly. "Very well, we will consider a study schedule outside of your normal studies."

"Thank you, thank you very much Professor," Harry gurgled.

Snape turned away and Harry felt dismissed. He was walking out the door when Snape spoke again. "Harry?"

"Yes, Professor?" Harry stopped and looked back.

Snape was watching him. "Mariah would like to invite you to our wedding on the weekend in Hogsmeade." He stood with his hands behind his back waiting, almost like a young man who'd asked a girl for a date. Harry could see it in his posture that he was worried he would be rejected. He blushed and finished, "I would like you to join us."

----------------------------

Dressed in his best robes, Harry waited at the gates. Hagrid had pulled up a special carriage pulled by four white horses. Harry grinned up at him and he grinned back. Hermione and Ron joined him in their best clothes. They were headed to an encampment of the Roma. It was late in the Autumn and the trees were turning in the valley to Hogsmeade.

They waited at the carriage and saw him coming towards them. Snape was dressed in Roma clothing; a white shirt, and embroidered vest over it, tucked into the loose trousers in high black boots. Harry noticed that he wore the hat that he had worn the night he had met Mariah in her house and had rescued him. They all stared at him. He looked so different than what he normally looked like that they all stood smiling uncontrollably at him.

He walked up with Dumbledore at his side.

"What?" he asked, looking at himself with worry.

"Professor," Harry finally said. "I would like you to use this today." He reached around and picked up his Firebolt and handed it to him. "I understand you can't have a gypsy wedding without a broom."

Latcho Drom

Natasha Vloyski

Dza devlesa


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